Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

The ebb and flow of attention in the human brain

Nature Neuroscience volume 9, pages 863–865 (2006)Cite this article

Lapses in attention can impair performance independent of the task. A new imaging study reports that reduced activity in prefrontal attentional control regions at the beginning of a trial predicts longer reaction times.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Lateral view of the right hemisphere, highlighting some of the cortical regions associated with focused and lapsed attention.

References

  1. Weissman, D.H., Roberts, K.C., Visscher, K.M. & Woldorff, M.G. Nat. Neurosci. 9, 971–978 (2006).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Navon, D. Cognit. Psychol. 9, 353–383 (1977).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Collette, F. & Van der Linden, M. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 26, 105–125 (2002).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Derfuss, J., Brass, M. & von Cramon, D.Y. Neuroimage 23, 604–612 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Hampshire, A. & Owen, A.M. Cereb. Cortex, published online January 25 2006 (doi:10.1093/cercor/bhj116).

  6. Wager, T.D. & Smith, E.E. Cogn. Affect. Behav. Neurosci. 3, 255–274 (2003).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Buchel, C. & Friston, K.J. Cereb. Cortex 7, 768–778 (1997).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Gazzaley, A., Cooney, J.W., McEvoy, K., Knight, R.T. & D'Esposito, M. J. Cogn. Neurosci. 17, 507–517 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Astafiev, S.V., Shulman, G.L. & Corbetta, M. Eur. J. Neurosci. 23, 591–596 (2006).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Raichle, M.E. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 98, 676–682 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Greicius, M.D., Krasnow, B., Reiss, A.L. & Menon, V. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 100, 253–258 (2003).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Lee, L., Friston, K. & Horwitz, B. Neuroimage 30, 1243–1254 (2006).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Rissman, J., Gazzaley, A. & D'Esposito, M. Neuroimage 23, 752–763 (2004).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Building 46-3160, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, 02139, Massachusetts, USA

    Trey Hedden & John D E Gabrieli

Authors
  1. Trey Hedden
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. John D E Gabrieli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hedden, T., Gabrieli, J. The ebb and flow of attention in the human brain. Nat Neurosci 9, 863–865 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn0706-863

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn0706-863

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing