Attention improves information flow between neuronal populations without changing the communication subspace

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TTLL11 gene is associated with sustained attention performance and brain networks: A genome-wide association study of a healthy Chinese sample

Genetic studies on attention have mainly focused on children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), so little systematic research has been conducted on genetic correlates of attention performance and their potential brain mechanisms among healthy individuals. The current study included a genome-wide association study (GWAS, N = 1145 healthy young adults) aimed to identify genes associated with sustained attention and an imaging genetics study (an independent sample of 483 healthy young adults) to examine any identified genes' influences on brain function. The GWAS found that TTLL11 showed genome-wide significant associations with sustained attention, with rs13298112 as the most significant SNP and the GG homozygotes showing more impulsive but also more focused responses than the A allele carriers. A retrospective examination of previously published ADHD GWAS results confirmed an un-reported, small but statistically significant effect of TTLL11 on ADHD. The imaging genetics study replicated this association and showed that the TTLL11 gene was associated with resting state activity and connectivity of the somatomoter network, and can be predicted by dorsal attention network connectivity. Specifically, the GG homozygotes showed lower brain activity, weaker brain network connectivity, and non-significant brain-attention association compared to the A allele carriers. Expression database showed that expression of this gene is enriched in the brain and that the G allele is associated with lower expression level than the A allele. These results suggest that TTLL11 may play a major role in healthy individuals' attention performance and may also contribute to the etiology of ADHD.     

Processing of global and local properties——An analysis with event-related brain potentials

The different processing of global and local properties of compound visual stimuli was studied with event-related brain potentials (ERPs) in the present experiment. It was found that, compared with the identification of global properties, the discrimination of local properties elicited longer RTs, lower accuracies, increased amplitudes of P1, decreased amplitudes of N1, and longer latencies of N2 and P3. The conflict of global and local properties increased the amplitudes of P2, decreased the amplitudes of P3, and prolonged latencies of N2 and P3. These results indicated that the advantage of global processing occurs at an early perceptual stage, and the attentional mechanisms for global and local processing may be different.     

Prefrontal deep projection neurons enable cognitive flexibility via persistent feedback monitoring

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基于残差注意力网络模型的浮游植物识别

浮游植物作为水生态系统中最重要的生物组成部分之一,对水环境敏感,在水环境监测中得到了广泛的关注。然而水生环境复杂多样,准确高效地识别浮游植物是监测工作中的一大挑战。当前浮游植物识别方法可分为经典形态学分类、分子标记和人工智能图像识别三类。前两种方法已被广泛采用,但费时费力,不利于监测机构的大规模应用和推广。同样,利用图像进行自动化分类难以在高准确率与高效率上达到平衡。深度学习技术的发展为此提供了新思路。本文提出一种新的深度卷积神经网络RAN-11。该网络以残差注意力网络Attention-56和Attention-92为基础,凭借通道对齐融合主干上的底层特征与顶层特征,通过调整注意力模块和残差快个数以精简结构,并引入了Leaky ReLU激活函数代替ReLU。以太湖11个优势属共计1036张图像为数据来源进行对比验证。除星杆藻外,RAN-11对单一优势属的的查准率都在90%以上,并且有5个优势属达到100%的查准率。RAN-11的识别准确率为95.67%,推理速率为41.5帧/s,不仅比Attention-92（95.19%的准确率,23.6帧/s）更准确,而且比Attention-56（94.71%的准确率,41.2帧/s）更快,真正兼顾了准确率与效率。研究结果表明：（1）RAN-11在查准率、准确率和推理速率上优于原始残差注意力网络,更优于以词包模型为代表的传统图像识别方法;（2）融合多尺度特征、精简网络结构和优化激活函数是提高卷积神经网络性能的有力手段。建立在经典分类基础之上,本文提出新的残差注意力网络来提升浮游植物鉴定技术,并构建出浮游植物自动化识别系统,识别准确率高、易于推广,对于实现水体中浮游植物的自动化监测具有重要意义。     

The relationship between visual working memory and attention: retention of precise colour information in the absence of effects on perceptual selection

We examined the conditions under which a feature value in visual working memory (VWM) recruits visual attention to matching stimuli. Previous work has suggested that VWM supports two qualitatively different states of representation: an active state that interacts with perceptual selection and a passive (or accessory) state that does not. An alternative hypothesis is that VWM supports a single form of representation, with the precision of feature memory controlling whether or not the representation interacts with perceptual selection. The results of three experiments supported the dual-state hypothesis. We established conditions under which participants retained a relatively precise representation of a parcticular colour. If the colour was immediately task relevant, it reliably recruited attention to matching stimuli. However, if the colour was not immediately task relevant, it failed to interact with perceptual selection. Feature maintenance in VWM is not necessarily equivalent with feature-based attentional selection.     

A direct comparison of exogenous and endogenous inhibition of return and selective attention mechanisms in the somatosensory system

The interaction of excitation and inhibition in responses due to attentional mechanisms in the visual system has been investigated. The studies reported herein use the tactile system of humans to test a specific hypothesis about the processes of attention that have never been directly addressed. Both exogenous and endogenous Inhibition of Return (IOR) reaction-time paradigms with a 100?Hz, 35?µm of peak displacement amplitude were used. In these experiments multiple Stimulus Onset Asynchronies were tested which made it difficult for subjects to learn timing patterns. We tested whether a detection time to a target which is to be attended to is a composite of at least two underlying mechanisms. These mechanisms were explored using exogenous and endogenous IOR experiments. It is hypothesized that these mechanisms work in a push–pull fashion: one deploying attention when new events occur, and the other withdrawing attention (“Disengagement”) after it has been deployed. Based on the results, a new hypothesis is proposed stating that one form of attention (selective attention) competes with IOR in determining the time taken to detect a target in the tactile system.     

Focus: The Aging Brain: The Significance of the Default Mode Network (DMN) in Neurological and Neuropsychiatric Disorders: A Review

The relationship of cortical structure and specific neuronal circuitry to global brain function, particularly its perturbations related to the development and progression of neuropathology, is an area of great interest in neurobehavioral science. Disruption of these neural networks can be associated with a wide range of neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders. Herein we review activity of the Default Mode Network (DMN) in neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Epilepsy (Temporal Lobe Epilepsy - TLE), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and mood disorders. We discuss the implications of DMN disruptions and their relationship to the neurocognitive model of each disease entity, the utility of DMN assessment in clinical evaluation, and the changes of the DMN following treatment.