Cited by 1,404Neural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesNeural dynamics and brain functionCognitive Abilities and Testing

Top-down modulation: bridging selective attention and working memory

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Gazzaley, Adam, Nobre, Anna C.·2012·Trends in Cognitive Sciences

Abstract

Selective attention, the ability to focus our cognitive resources on information relevant to our goals, influences working memory (WM) performance. Indeed, attention and working memory are increasingly viewed as overlapping constructs. Here, we review recent evidence from human neurophysiological studies demonstrating that top-down modulation serves as a common neural mechanism underlying these two cognitive operations. The core features include activity modulation in stimulus-selective sensory cortices with concurrent engagement of prefrontal and parietal control regions that function as sources of top-down signals. Notably, top-down modulation is engaged during both stimulus-present and stimulus-absent stages of WM tasks; that is, expectation of an ensuing stimulus to be remembered, selection and encoding of stimuli, maintenance of relevant information in mind and memory retrieval.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.tics.2011.11.014

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  • Goal-directed inhibitory control is a core function underlying attention control and cognitive control, and is important in emotion regulation by downregulating reactivity of automatic salience evaluation to threat cues.

    “Goal-directed inhibitory control is a core function underlying [ 5 0 1 _ T D $ D I F F ] attention control, and cognitive control processes generally [45], which operate in a coordinated manner to support goals [41,51].Goal-directed inhibitory control is also important in emotion regulation by downregulating the reactivity of the automatic salience evaluation mechanism to threat cues [46].”

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. [9]Gazzaley A D’Esposito M 2007 Unifying prefrontal cortex function: Executive control, neural networks and top-down modulation The Human Frontal Lobes Second edn Cummings J Miller B The Guildford Press
  2. [42]Awh E 2006 Interactions between attention and working memory Neuroscience 139 201 208 16324792
  3. [63]Esterman M Yantis S 2009 Perceptual Expectation Evokes Category-Selective Cortical Activity Cereb Cortex PMC2852509 19759124

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Authors
Gazzaley, A., & Nobre, A. C.
Affiliations
  • University of California, San Francisco (US)
  • University of Oxford (GB)
Corresponding author
  • Gazzaley, Adam
  • Nobre, Anna C.
Venue
Trends in Cognitive Sciences
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2012-02
Volume
16
Issue
2
Pages
129-135
ISSN
1364-6613 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2149985837
Cited by
1,404
References
100
Citations by year
2026: 79 · 2025: 111 · 2024: 88 · 2023: 95 · 2022: 116 · 2021: 108 · 2020: 129 · 2019: 84 · 2018: 109 · 2017: 124 · 2016: 99 · 2015: 101 · 2014: 76 · 2013: 59 · 2012: 22
FWCI
4.32
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Trends in Cognitive Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • Wellcome Trust
  • National Institute on Aging (K08AG025221, R01AG030395, F32AG021370, L30 AG026986)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
Keywords
top-down modulation, selective attention, working memory, prefrontal cortex, parietal cortex, sensory cortex, neural mechanisms of attention, memory encoding, memory maintenance, memory retrieval, expectations
MeSH terms
Attention, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Memory, Short-Term, Neural Pathways, Parietal Lobe, Psychomotor Performance, Reaction Time, Prefrontal Cortex, Functional Neuroimaging

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