Andrew G. Webb

The relative involvement of anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortex in attentional control depends on nature of conflict

While numerous studies have implicated both anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortex in attentional control, the nature of their involvement remains a source of debate. Here we determine the extent to which their relative involvement in attentional control depends upon the levels of processing at which the conflict occurs (e.g., response, non-response). Using a combination of blocked and rapid presentation event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging techniques, we compared neural activity during incongruent Stroop trial types that produce conflict at different levels of processing. Our data suggest that the involvement of anterior cingulate and right prefrontal cortex in attentional control is primarily limited to situations of response conflict, while the involvement of left prefrontal cortex extends to the occurrence of conflict at non-response levels.

Attentional control in the aging brain: insights from an fMRI study of the stroop task.

Several recent studies of aging and cognition have attributed decreases in the efficiency of working memory processes to possible declines in attentional control, the mechanism(s) by which the brain attempts to limit its processing to that of task-relevant information. Here we used fMRI measures of neural activity during performance of the color-word Stroop task to compare the neural substrates of attentional control in younger (ages: 21-27 years old) and older participants (ages: 60-75 years old) during conditions of both increased competition (incongruent and congruent neutral) and increased conflict (incongruent and congruent neutral). We found evidence of age-related decreases in the responsiveness of structures thought to support attentional control (e.g., dorsolateral prefrontal and parietal cortices), suggesting possible impairments in the implementation of attentional control in older participants. Consistent with this notion, older participants exhibited more extensive activation of ventral visual processing regions (i.e., temporal cortex) and anterior inferior prefrontal cortices, reflecting a decreased ability to inhibit the processing of task-irrelevant information. Also, the anterior cingulate cortex, a region involved in evaluatory processes at the level of response (e.g., detecting potential for error), showed age-related increases in its sensitivity to the presence of competing color information. These findings are discussed in terms of newly emerging models of attentional control in the human brain.

High-Resolution Microcoil 1H-NMR for Mass-Limited, Nanoliter-Volume Samples

High-resolution, proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra of 5-nanoliter samples have been obtained with much higher mass sensitivity [signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) per micromole] than with traditional methods. Arginine and sucrose show a mean sensitivity enhancement of 130 compared to 278-microliter samples run in a 5-millimeter tube in a conventional, commercial probe. This can reduce data acquisition time by a factor of >16,000 or reduce the needed sample mass by a factor of about 130. A linewidth of 0.6 hertz was achieved on a 300-megahertz spectrometer by matching the magnetic susceptibility of the medium that surrounds the detection cell to that of the copper coil. For sucrose, the limit of detection (defined at S/N = 3) was 19 nanograms (56 picomoles) for a 1-minute data acquisition. This technique should prove useful with mass-limited samples and for use as a detector in capillary separations.

fMRI Studies of Stroop Tasks Reveal Unique Roles of Anterior and Posterior Brain Systems in Attentional Selection

The brains attentional system identifies and selects information that is task-relevant while ignoring information that is task-irrelevant. In two experiments using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we examined the effects of varying task-relevant information compared to task-irrelevant information. In the first experiment, we compared patterns of activation as attentional demands were increased for two Stroop tasks that differed in the task-relevant information, but not the task-irrelevant information: a color-word task and a spatial-word task. Distinct subdivisions of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the precuneus became activated for each task, indicating differential sensitivity of these regions to task-relevant information (e.g., spatial information vs. color). In the second experiment, we compared patterns of activation with increased attentional demands for two Stroop tasks that differed in task-irrelevant information, but not task-relevant information: a color-word task and color-object task. Little differentiation in activation for dorsolateral prefrontal and precuneus regions was observed, indicating a relative insensitivity of these regions to task-irrelevant information. However, we observed a differentiation in the pattern of activity for posterior regions. There were unique areas of activation in parietal regions for the color-word task and in occipito-temporal regions for the color-object task. No increase in activation was observed in regions responsible for processing the perceptual attribute of color. The results of this second experiment indicate that attentional selection in tasks such as the Stroop task, which contain multiple potential sources of relevant information (e.g., the word vs. its ink color), acts more by modulating the processing of task-irrelevant information than by modulating processing of task-relevant information.

Investigation of human brain hemodynamics by simultaneous near-infrared spectroscopy and functional magnetic resonance imaging.

The aim of this study was to compare functional cerebral hemodynamic signals obtained simultaneously by near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The contribution of superficial layers (skin and skull) to the NIRS signal was also assessed. Both methods were used to generate functional maps of the motor cortex area during a periodic sequence of stimulation by finger motion and rest. In all subjects we found a good collocation of the brain activity centers revealed by both methods. We also found a high temporal correlation between the BOLD signal (fMRI) and the deoxy-hemoglobin concentration (NIRS) in the subjects who exhibited low fluctuations in superficial head tissues.

Paying attention to emotion: An fMRI investigation of cognitive and emotional Stroop tasks

In this research, we investigated the degree to which brain systems involved in ignoring emotionally salient information differ from those involved in ignoring nonemotional information. The design allowed examination of regional brain activity, using fMRI during color-word and emotional Stroop tasks. Twelve participants indicated the color of words while ignoring word meaning in conditions in which neutral words were contrasted to emotionally negative, emotionally positive, and incongruent color words. Dorsolateral frontal lobe activity was increased by both negative and incongruent color words, indicating a common system for maintaining an attentional set in the presence of salient distractors. In posterior regions of the brain, activity depended on the nature of the information to be ignored. Ignoring color-incongruent words increased left parietal activity and decreased parahippocampal gyrus activity, whereas ignoring negative emotional words increased bilateral occipito-temporal activity and decreased amygdala activity. The results indicate that emotion and attention are intimately related via a network of regions that monitor for salient information, maintain attention on the task, suppress irrelevant information, and select appropriate responses.

Apparent diffusion tensor measurements in myelin-deficient rat spinal cords

The apparent diffusion tensor (ADT) was measured in excised and fixed spinal cords from myelin‐deficient (md) rats and age‐matched controls. These data were used to obtain the principal diffusivities of the ADT, and also the scalar invariant parameters D̄ (averaged principal diffusivity) and Aσ (anisotropy index) for four white matter and two gray matter regions. The results for white matter regions showed that the principal diffusivities were significantly higher for md animals, and while the D̄ was increased in tissue from md animals, the Aσ was found to be decreased. Grey matter D̄ was measured to be between those of white matter from control and md animals, and the Aσ was much smaller than that of white matter from both sets of animals, indicating that diffusion in md white matter is more anisotropic than in gray matter. The results show that while myelination is not a prerequisite for diffusion anisotropy, it does influence the magnitude of the observed anisotropy. Magn Reson Med 45:191–195, 2001.

Emotion-Modulated Performance and Activity in Left Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex

Functional MRI (fMRI) was used to examine the relationship between processing of pleasant and unpleasant stimuli and activity in prefrontal cortex. Twenty volunteers identified the colors in which pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant words were printed. Pleasant words prompted more activity bilaterally in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) than did unpleasant words. In addition, pleasant words prompted more activity in left than in right DLPFC. Response speed to pleasant words was correlated with DLPFC activity. These data directly link positive affect, enhanced performance, and prefrontal activity, providing some of the first fMRI evidence supporting models of emotional valence and frontal brain asymmetry based on electroencephalography (EEG).

Localization of asymmetric brain function in emotion and depression

Although numerous EEG studies have shown that depression is associated with abnormal functional asymmetries in frontal cortex, fMRI and PET studies have largely failed to identify specific brain areas showing this effect. The present study tested the hypothesis that emotion processes are related to asymmetric patterns of fMRI activity, particularly within dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Eleven depressed and 18 control participants identified the color in which pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant words were printed. Both groups showed a leftward lateralization for pleasant words in DLPFC. In a neighboring DLPFC area, the depression group showed more right-lateralized activation than controls, replicating EEG findings. These data confirm that emotional stimulus processing and trait depression are associated with asymmetric brain functions in distinct subregions of the DLPFC that may go undetected unless appropriate analytic procedures are used.

Measurement of brain activity by near-infrared light

We review our most recent results on near-IR studies of human brain activity, which have been evolving in two directions: detection of neuronal signals and measurements of functional hemodynamics. We discuss results obtained so far, describing in detail the techniques we developed for detecting neuronal activity, and presenting results of a study that, as we believe, confirms the feasibility of neuronal signal detection. We review our results on near-IR measurements of cerebral hemodynamics, which are performed simultaneously with functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) These results confirm the cerebral origin of hemodynamic signals measured by optical techniques on the surface of the head. We also show how near-IR methods can be used to study the underlying physiology of functional MRI signals.