Neural correlates of switching attentional focus during finger movements: An fMRI study
Research on motor-related attentional foci suggests that switching from an internal to an external focus of attention has advantageous effects on motor performance whereas switching from an external to an internal focus has disadvantageous effects. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to in...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2012-12-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00555/full |
| _version_ | 1818267989404811264 |
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| author | Kristin eZimmermann Kristin eZimmermann Matthias eBischoff Matthias eBischoff Britta eLorey Britta eLorey Rudolf eStark Jörn eMunzert Karen eZentgraf Karen eZentgraf |
| author_facet | Kristin eZimmermann Kristin eZimmermann Matthias eBischoff Matthias eBischoff Britta eLorey Britta eLorey Rudolf eStark Jörn eMunzert Karen eZentgraf Karen eZentgraf |
| author_sort | Kristin eZimmermann |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Research on motor-related attentional foci suggests that switching from an internal to an external focus of attention has advantageous effects on motor performance whereas switching from an external to an internal focus has disadvantageous effects. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the neural correlates of switching the focus of attention. Two experimental groups were trained to apply one focus direction – internal or external – on a previously learned finger tapping sequence. Participants with an internal focus training were instructed to attend to their moving fingers; those with an external focus training were instructed to attend to the response buttons. In the first half of the experiment, participants performed with their trained focus, in the second half, they were unexpectedly asked to switch to the untrained attentional focus. Our data showed that the switch from a trained internal to an unfamiliar external focus of attention elicited increased activation of the left lateral premotor cortex. We propose that this activation can be linked to the role of the premotor cortex in action planning — probably indicating a facilitation effect on selectional motor processes. Switching from a trained external to an unfamiliar internal focus of attention revealed enhanced activation of the left primary somatosensory cortex and intraparietal lobule. We interpret these modulations as a result of the amplifying influence of afferent information on motor processing when asked to attend internally in a motor task after being trained with an external focus. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T20:31:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-990114dcf4f641469594bcb161d04fa0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T20:31:21Z |
| publishDate | 2012-12-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-990114dcf4f641469594bcb161d04fa02022-12-22T00:13:01ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782012-12-01310.3389/fpsyg.2012.0055532646Neural correlates of switching attentional focus during finger movements: An fMRI studyKristin eZimmermann0Kristin eZimmermann1Matthias eBischoff2Matthias eBischoff3Britta eLorey4Britta eLorey5Rudolf eStark6Jörn eMunzert7Karen eZentgraf8Karen eZentgraf9University of Muenster, GermanyBender Institute of Neuroimaging, University of GiessenUniversity of Muenster, GermanyBender Institute of Neuroimaging, University of GiessenBender Institute of Neuroimaging, University of GiessenUniversity of GiessenBender Institute of Neuroimaging, University of GiessenUniversity of GiessenUniversity of Muenster, GermanyBender Institute of Neuroimaging, University of GiessenResearch on motor-related attentional foci suggests that switching from an internal to an external focus of attention has advantageous effects on motor performance whereas switching from an external to an internal focus has disadvantageous effects. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the neural correlates of switching the focus of attention. Two experimental groups were trained to apply one focus direction – internal or external – on a previously learned finger tapping sequence. Participants with an internal focus training were instructed to attend to their moving fingers; those with an external focus training were instructed to attend to the response buttons. In the first half of the experiment, participants performed with their trained focus, in the second half, they were unexpectedly asked to switch to the untrained attentional focus. Our data showed that the switch from a trained internal to an unfamiliar external focus of attention elicited increased activation of the left lateral premotor cortex. We propose that this activation can be linked to the role of the premotor cortex in action planning — probably indicating a facilitation effect on selectional motor processes. Switching from a trained external to an unfamiliar internal focus of attention revealed enhanced activation of the left primary somatosensory cortex and intraparietal lobule. We interpret these modulations as a result of the amplifying influence of afferent information on motor processing when asked to attend internally in a motor task after being trained with an external focus.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00555/fullfMRIpremotor cortexattentional focus-switchfinger tapping taskintraparietal lobule |
| spellingShingle | Kristin eZimmermann Kristin eZimmermann Matthias eBischoff Matthias eBischoff Britta eLorey Britta eLorey Rudolf eStark Jörn eMunzert Karen eZentgraf Karen eZentgraf Neural correlates of switching attentional focus during finger movements: An fMRI study Frontiers in Psychology fMRI premotor cortex attentional focus-switch finger tapping task intraparietal lobule |
| title | Neural correlates of switching attentional focus during finger movements: An fMRI study |
| title_full | Neural correlates of switching attentional focus during finger movements: An fMRI study |
| title_fullStr | Neural correlates of switching attentional focus during finger movements: An fMRI study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Neural correlates of switching attentional focus during finger movements: An fMRI study |
| title_short | Neural correlates of switching attentional focus during finger movements: An fMRI study |
| title_sort | neural correlates of switching attentional focus during finger movements an fmri study |
| topic | fMRI premotor cortex attentional focus-switch finger tapping task intraparietal lobule |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00555/full |
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