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Cited by 552Neural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesNeurotransmitter Receptor Influence on BehaviorNeural dynamics and brain function

More attention must be paid: The neurobiology of attentional effort

Sarter, Martin, Gehring, William J., Kozak, Rouba·2006·Brain Research Reviews
DOI 10.1016/j.brainresrev.2005.11.002
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Abstract

Increases in attentional effort are defined as the motivated activation of attentional systems in response to detrimental challenges on attentional performance, such as the presentation of distractors, prolonged time-on-task, changing target stimulus characteristics and stimulus presentation parameters, circadian phase shifts, stress or sickness. Increases in attentional effort are motivated by the expected performance outcome; in the absence of such motivation, attentional performance continues to decline or may cease altogether. The beneficial effects of increased attentional effort are due in part to the activation of top-down mechanisms that act to optimize input detection and processing, thereby stabilizing or recovering attentional performance in response to challenges. Following a description of the psychological construct "attentional effort", evidence is reviewed indicating that increases in the activity of cortical cholinergic inputs represent a major component of the neuronal circuitry mediating increases in attentional effort. A neuronal model describes how error detection and reward loss, indicating declining performance, are integrated with motivational mechanisms on the basis of neuronal circuits between prefrontal/anterior cingulate and mesolimbic regions. The cortical cholinergic input system is activated by projections of mesolimbic structures to the basal forebrain cholinergic system. In prefrontal regions, increases in cholinergic activity are hypothesized to contribute to the activation of the anterior attention system and associated executive functions, particularly the top-down optimization of input processing in sensory regions. Moreover, and influenced in part by prefrontal projections to the basal forebrain, increases in cholinergic activity in sensory and other posterior cortical regions contribute directly to the modification of receptive field properties or the suppression of contextual information and, therefore, to the mediation of top-down effects. The definition of attentional effort as a cognitive incentive, and the description of a neuronal circuitry model that integrates brain systems involved in performance monitoring, the processing of incentives, activation of attention systems and modulation of input functions, suggest that 'attentional effort' represents a viable construct for cognitive neuroscience research.

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  • The nucleus basalis of Meynert (NBM) mediates selective and sustained visual attention.

    “The NBM mediates selective and sustained visual attention40,41”

    From Effect of age and autism spectrum disorder on oxytocin receptor density in the human basal forebrain and midbrain (2018) · cites this paper as [41]

  • The nucleus basalis of Meynert and pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus are major sources of cholinergic input to the rest of the brain and important regulators of selective attention and motivation.

    “These nuclei are major sources of cholinergic input to the rest of the brain (44-46) and are important regulators of selective attention and motivation (47-52).”

    From Comparative Perspectives on Oxytocin and Vasopressin Receptor Research in Rodents and Primates: Translational Implications (2016) · cites this paper as [48]

  • The effects of motivational variations of cognitive performance, specifically the mesolimbic-basal forebrain interactions that control levels of attentional effort, are readily integrated into this model.

    “Furthermore, the effects of motivational variations of cognitive performance, specifically the mesolimbic-basal forebrain interactions that control levels of attentional effort (Zmarowski et al, 2005, 2007; Sarter et al, 2006) are readily integrated into this model.”

    From Modes and models of forebrain cholinergic neuromodulation of cognition (2011) · cites this paper as Sarter et al, 2006

  • Prefrontal muscarinic recruitment of efferent circuitry may mediate top-down effects to combat performance decay from time-on-task and distractors.

    “Such prefrontal, muscarinic recruitment of efferent circuitry may mediate top-down effects in order to, for example, combat performance decay as a result of time-on-task and other performance challenges, such as distractors (Gill et al, 2000; Kozak et al, 2006; Sarter et al, 2006).”

    From Modes and models of forebrain cholinergic neuromodulation of cognition (2011) · cites this paper as Sarter et al, 2006

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Authors
Sarter, M., Gehring, W. J., & Kozak, R.
Affiliations
University of Michigan (US)
Corresponding author
Sarter, Martin
ORCID
Venue
Brain Research Reviews
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2006-08
Volume
51
Issue
2
Pages
145-160
ISSN
0165-0173 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.brainresrev.2005.11.002
OpenAlex
W2062636034
Cited by
552
References
194
Citations by year
2026: 12 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 22 · 2018: 31 · 2017: 29 · 2016: 30 · 2015: 30 · 2014: 36 · 2013: 40 · 2012: 43
FWCI
2.39
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Brain Research Reviews (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH063114, MH073600, MH 063114, K02MH001072, R03MH073600)
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NS37026, R01NS037026)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
Keywords
attentional effort, top-down modulation, mesolimbic system, anterior cingulate cortex, prefrontal cortex, performance monitoring, error detection, motivation, incentive processing, distractibility, time on task, circadian phase, stress, illness, executive function, receptive field modulation
MeSH terms
Animals, Attention, Brain, Cholinergic Fibers, Cognition, Humans, Models, Neurological, Motivation, Neural Pathways, Reward, Basal Nucleus of Meynert

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