Attention and working Memory

Contralateral neglect

Unable to have attention to sensory world due to brain damage on the opposite side

Working memory

Keeping information about an object or event actively in mind after its no longer present

Alertness

How sensitive or responsive you are to environmental stimulus

Selective attention

The ability to select specific objects to have our attentional resources

Norepinephrine

This chemicals increase alertness by making brain more responsive to environmental stimuli. This located in the pons called locus coeruleus

Salient

Stimuli with highly noticeable physical properties to grab our attention

Stimulus - driven attention

Responding involuntarily, automatically, to salient stimulus

Bottom-up attention

Low-level circuits operate without awareness detect salient physical characteristics of stimulus, the activates higher-order areas of the brain: directing attention towards stimulus

Goal directed attention

Searching your environment to find a specific goal

Top -down attention

Higher- order brain areas present a goal, influence lower-order brain areas to detect relevant stimulus

Serial search

When target doesn't produce the pop- out effect, the target finds things in common with other things to figure out what it is

Ventral frontal cortex and temporoparietal junction

areas that are activated with stimulus-driven attention

Frontal eye fields and intrapariental sulcus

Areas activated by the goal-directed network

Networks

Brain regions that activate whether there is stimulus-driven (bottom-up) or goal - driven ( top-down) attention

We pay attention to important stimuli due to:

Both ventral (what) and dorsal (where) work together to pay attention to important stimuli,

Cocktail party effect

Where you are able to ignore loud noise, then direct all your attention when you hear someone say your name then you focus all attention to specific person

Stroop task

Being presented either compatible or incompatible conditions to be able identify a specific color

Compatible condition

Being able to identify specific color when it is written in same color is easier

Incompatible condition

Specific color being present but written in a different color making it more difficult to identify color

Anterior cingulate cortex and dorsolatural prefrontal cortex

Activated when attention conflict (incompatible condition) is present to inhibit distractions

ADHD causes and treatments

This caused by deficit dopamine and is treated by inhibiting reuptake

Frontoparietal circuitry

Is involved with working memory capacity and development

dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and posterior parietal cortex

Where neurons are activated during working memory