Neuronal basis of attention

Question 1

Describe the interplay between bottom-up and top-down driven attention.

Question 2

Explain the difference between exogeneous and endogeneous cueing in the Posner task

Answer 2

Endo: top-down - goal driven attention (the color is named)
Exo: bottom-up - stimulus driven (the word is read before the color is named)

Question 3

Describe the dorsal and ventral attention networks

Answer 3

Ventral: TPJ and VFC
Dorsal: PC, IPS/SPL, FEF and SEF

Question 4

Describe the general anatomy of cognitive control, especially with regard to the prefrontal cortex

Answer 4

dl/vm/dm/vlPrefrontal cortex, pParietal cortex, anterior cingulate gyrus, orbitofrontal cortex, caudate nucleus and putaman

Question 5

Describe physiological correlates of working memory

Question 6

Discuss the relation between working memory and cognitive control.

Answer 6

The Baddeley model:
- a control system aka. central executive (working memory): allocate processing resources and perform manipulations
- three capacity-limited memory buffers (working memory): phonological loop, episodic buffer and visuospatial sketchpad
- each capacity-model maintains a different kind of representation (long-term memory): language/sound based, integrated, multimodal representation, and visual semantics

Question 7

Discuss the relation between attentional and cognitive control in a wider sense

Question 8

What are “executive functions”?

Answer 8

• performs supervisory or regulatory roles of other cognitive functions

Question 9

What are the three types of executive functions we’ve worked with?

Answer 9

• establishing and modifying rules
• contextual control
• working memory

Question 10

Name and describe the two components of the memory buffers according to the Baddeley model. Give an example of these.

Answer 10

• store: holds info
• rehersal mechanism: reactivates info
  Example (phonological loop):
• phonological store
• articulatory rehersal (the inner voice we sometimes hear while reading, subvocal speech)