Prefrontal control of attention to threat
Attentional control refers to the regulatory processes that ensure that our actions are in accordance with our goals. Dual-system accounts view temperament as consisting of both individual variation in emotionality (e.g. trait anxiety) and variation in regulatory attentional mechanisms that act to m...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2013-02-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00024/full |
| _version_ | 1818965292897796096 |
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| author | Polly V Peers Jon S Simons Andrew David Lawrence Andrew David Lawrence |
| author_facet | Polly V Peers Jon S Simons Andrew David Lawrence Andrew David Lawrence |
| author_sort | Polly V Peers |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Attentional control refers to the regulatory processes that ensure that our actions are in accordance with our goals. Dual-system accounts view temperament as consisting of both individual variation in emotionality (e.g. trait anxiety) and variation in regulatory attentional mechanisms that act to modulate emotionality. Increasing evidence links trait variation in attentional control to clinical mood and anxiety disorder symptoms, independent of trait emotionality. Attentional biases to threat have been robustly linked to mood and anxiety disorders. However, the role of variation in attentional control in influencing such biases, and the neural underpinnings of trait variation in attentional control, are unknown. Here, we show, that individual differences in trait attentional control, even when accounting for trait and state anxiety, are related to the magnitude of an attentional blink following threat-related targets. Moreover, we demonstrate that activity in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, is observed specifically in relation to control of attention over threatening stimuli, in line with neural theories of attentional control, such as guided activation theory. These results have key implications for neurocognitive theories of attentional bias and emotional resilience. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T13:14:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-28d1a70044c1415bb966c169c18fe318 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5161 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T13:14:42Z |
| publishDate | 2013-02-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-28d1a70044c1415bb966c169c18fe3182022-12-21T19:39:35ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Human Neuroscience1662-51612013-02-01710.3389/fnhum.2013.0002439267Prefrontal control of attention to threatPolly V Peers0Jon S Simons1Andrew David Lawrence2Andrew David Lawrence3Medical Research CounilUniversity of CambridgeCardiff UniversityMedical Research CounilAttentional control refers to the regulatory processes that ensure that our actions are in accordance with our goals. Dual-system accounts view temperament as consisting of both individual variation in emotionality (e.g. trait anxiety) and variation in regulatory attentional mechanisms that act to modulate emotionality. Increasing evidence links trait variation in attentional control to clinical mood and anxiety disorder symptoms, independent of trait emotionality. Attentional biases to threat have been robustly linked to mood and anxiety disorders. However, the role of variation in attentional control in influencing such biases, and the neural underpinnings of trait variation in attentional control, are unknown. Here, we show, that individual differences in trait attentional control, even when accounting for trait and state anxiety, are related to the magnitude of an attentional blink following threat-related targets. Moreover, we demonstrate that activity in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, is observed specifically in relation to control of attention over threatening stimuli, in line with neural theories of attentional control, such as guided activation theory. These results have key implications for neurocognitive theories of attentional bias and emotional resilience.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00024/fullAnxietyAttentional BlinkPrefrontal Cortexcognitive controlemotionfMRI |
| spellingShingle | Polly V Peers Jon S Simons Andrew David Lawrence Andrew David Lawrence Prefrontal control of attention to threat Frontiers in Human Neuroscience Anxiety Attentional Blink Prefrontal Cortex cognitive control emotion fMRI |
| title | Prefrontal control of attention to threat |
| title_full | Prefrontal control of attention to threat |
| title_fullStr | Prefrontal control of attention to threat |
| title_full_unstemmed | Prefrontal control of attention to threat |
| title_short | Prefrontal control of attention to threat |
| title_sort | prefrontal control of attention to threat |
| topic | Anxiety Attentional Blink Prefrontal Cortex cognitive control emotion fMRI |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00024/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT pollyvpeers prefrontalcontrolofattentiontothreat AT jonssimons prefrontalcontrolofattentiontothreat AT andrewdavidlawrence prefrontalcontrolofattentiontothreat AT andrewdavidlawrence prefrontalcontrolofattentiontothreat |