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Tracking the will to attend: Cortical activity indexes self-generated, voluntary shifts of attention

Overview of attention for article published in Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, June 2016
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • One of the highest-scoring outputs from this source (#5 of 1,791)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (98th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (97th percentile)

Mentioned by

news
19 news outlets
blogs
8 blogs
twitter
20 X users
facebook
3 Facebook pages
googleplus
2 Google+ users

Citations

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20 Dimensions

Readers on

mendeley
108 Mendeley
Title
Tracking the will to attend: Cortical activity indexes self-generated, voluntary shifts of attention
Published in
Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, June 2016
DOI 10.3758/s13414-016-1159-7
Pubmed ID
Authors

Leon Gmeindl, Yu-Chin Chiu, Michael S. Esterman, Adam S. Greenberg, Susan M. Courtney, Steven Yantis

Abstract

The neural substrates of volition have long tantalized philosophers and scientists. Over the past few decades, researchers have employed increasingly sophisticated technology to investigate this issue, but many studies have been limited considerably by their reliance on intrusive experimental procedures (e.g., abrupt instructional cues), measures of brain activity contaminated by overt behavior, or introspective self-report techniques of questionable validity. Here, we used multivoxel pattern time-course analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging data to index voluntary, covert perceptual acts-shifts of visuospatial attention-in the absence of instructional cues, overt behavioral indices, and self-report. We found that these self-generated, voluntary attention shifts were time-locked to activity in the medial superior parietal lobule, supporting the hypothesis that this brain region is engaged in voluntary attentional reconfiguration. Self-generated attention shifts were also time-locked to activity in the basal ganglia, a novel finding that motivates further research into the role of the basal ganglia in acts of volition. Remarkably, prior to self-generated shifts of attention, we observed early and selective increases in the activation of medial frontal (dorsal anterior cingulate) and lateral prefrontal (right middle frontal gyrus) cortex-activity that likely reflects processing related to the intention or preparation to reorient attention. These findings, which extend recent evidence on freely chosen motor movements, suggest that dorsal anterior cingulate and lateral prefrontal cortices play key roles in both overt and covert acts of volition, and may constitute core components of a brain network underlying the will to attend.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 20 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 108 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Japan 3 3%
France 2 2%
Spain 1 <1%
South Africa 1 <1%
United States 1 <1%
Luxembourg 1 <1%
Unknown 99 92%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 24 22%
Researcher 21 19%
Student > Master 13 12%
Student > Bachelor 9 8%
Student > Postgraduate 9 8%
Other 21 19%
Unknown 11 10%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Psychology 40 37%
Neuroscience 19 18%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 11 10%
Medicine and Dentistry 5 5%
Computer Science 4 4%
Other 14 13%
Unknown 15 14%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 202. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 28 November 2021.
All research outputs
#181,689
of 24,357,902 outputs
Outputs from Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics
#5
of 1,791 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#3,690
of 359,283 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics
#2
of 41 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 24,357,902 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,791 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 5.6. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 359,283 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 41 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 97% of its contemporaries.