Management of attentional resources in within-modal and cross-modal divided attention tasks: An fMRI study

• Published in: Human brain mapping Vol. 28; no. 12; pp. 1267 - 1275
• Main Authors: Vohn, Rene, Fimm, Bruno, Weber, Jochen, Schnitker, Ralph, Thron, Armin, Spijkers, Will, Willmes, Klaus, Sturm, Walter
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 01.12.2007; Wiley-Liss
• Subjects: Acoustic Stimulation; Adult; attention; Attention - physiology; Auditory Perception - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Cerebral Cortex - physiology; cingulate cortex; claustrum; Cognition - physiology; divided attention; Electrodiagnosis. Electric activity recording; fMRI; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Human; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; inferior parietal cortex; Investigative techniques, diagnostic techniques (general aspects); Learning. Memory; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Medical sciences; Memory; Nervous system; Photic Stimulation; prefrontal cortex; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychomotor Performance - physiology; Radiodiagnosis. Nmr imagery. Nmr spectrometry; thalamus; Visual Perception - physiology; Nervous system diseases; inferior parietal cortex; Radiodiagnosis; Central nervous system; Attention; claustrum; Prefrontal cortex; Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging; Encephalon; divided attention; fMRI; Cingulate cortex; Parietal cortex; Thalamus; Resource management
• ISSN: 1065-9471; 1097-0193
• DOI: 10.1002/hbm.20350

In the present study, we were interested in distinguishing the cortical representations of within‐modal and cross‐modal divided attention tasks by using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Sixteen healthy male subjects aged between 21 and 30 years underwent two within‐modal (auditory/auditory, visual/visual) and one cross‐modal (auditory/visual) divided attention task, as well as related selective attention control conditions. After subtraction of the corresponding control task the three divided attention tasks, irrespective of sensory modality, revealed significant activation in a predominantly right hemisphere network involving the prefrontal cortex, the inferior parietal cortex, and the claustrum. Under the cross‐modal condition, however, the frontal and parietal activation was more extended and more bilateral and there also was stronger right hemisphere activation of the anterior cingulate cortex and the thalamus. In comparison to the within‐modal conditions additional bilateral frontal and left inferior parietal activation was found for the cross‐modal condition. The supplementary fronto‐parietal, anterior cingulate cortex, and thalamus activation in the auditory/visual condition could be argued to reflect an additional demand for coordination of two ongoing cross‐modal cognitive processes. Hum Brain Mapp, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.