Selective Effects of Cholinergic Modulation on Task Performance during Selective Attention
Open accessAbstract
The cholinergic neurotransmitter system is critically linked to cognitive functions including attention. The current studies were designed to evaluate the effect of a cholinergic agonist and an antagonist on performance during a selective visual attention task where the inherent salience of attended/unattended stimuli was modulated. Two randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover studies were performed, one (n=9) with the anticholinesterase physostigmine (1.0 mg/h), and the other (n=30) with the anticholinergic scopolamine (0.4 mc/kg). During the task, two double-exposure pictures of faces and houses were presented side by side. Subjects were cued to attend to either the face or the house component of the stimuli, and were instructed to perform a matching task with the two exemplars from the attended category. The cue changed every 4-7 trials to instruct subjects to shift attention from one stimulus component to the other. During placebo in both studies, reaction time (RT) associated with the first trial following a cued shift in attention was longer than RT associated with later trials (p<0.05); RT also was significantly longer when attending to houses than to faces (p<0.05). Physostigmine decreased RT relative to placebo preferentially during trials greater than one (p<0.05), with no change during trial one; and decreased RT preferentially during the attention to houses condition (p<0.05) vs attention to faces. Scopolamine increased RT relative to placebo selectively during trials greater than one (p<0.05), and preferentially increased RT during the attention to faces condition (p<0.05). The results suggest that enhancement or impairment of cholinergic activity preferentially influences the maintenance of selective attention (ie trials greater than 1). Moreover, effects of cholinergic manipulation depend on the selective attention condition (ie faces vs houses), which may suggest that cholinergic activity interacts with stimulus salience. The findings are discussed within the context of the role of acetylcholine both in stimulus processing and stimulus salience, and in establishing attention biases through top-down and bottom-up mechanisms of attention.
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Boosting cholinergic activity increases the selectivity of neural response to target sensory stimuli.
“boosting cholinergic activity increases the selectivity of neural response to target sensory stimuli (Furey et al. 2000; Sillito and Kemp 1983; Furey et al. 2007)”
From Brain structural and functional abnormalities in mood disorders: implications for neurocircuitry models of depression (2008) · cites this paper as Furey et al. 2007
Enhanced attention to stimuli is a key mechanism contributing to the effects of physostigmine on encoding, mediated by frontoparietal as well as sensory and sensory-associational areas.
“Furthermore, several studies identified enhanced attention to stimuli as a key mechanism that contributes to the effects of physostigmine on encoding, and determined that frontoparietal as well sensory and sensory-associational areas mediate these effects (e.g., Bentley et al, 2003, 2008; Furey et al, 2008; Silver et al, 2008).”
From Modes and models of forebrain cholinergic neuromodulation of cognition (2011) · cites this paper as Furey et al, 2008
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References 54 · Cited by 107
- Authors
- Furey, M. L., Pietrini, P., Haxby, J. V., & Drevets, W. C.
- Affiliations
- National Institutes of Health (US)
- University of Pisa (IT)
- Princeton University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Furey, Maura L
- Venue
- Neuropsychopharmacology
- Published
- 2007-05-30
- Volume
- 33
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 913-923
- ISSN
- 0893-133X (ISSN-L)
- 1740-634X
- PMC
- PMC3250310
- OpenAlex
- W2114490924
- Cited by
- 107
- References
- 54
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 4.66
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Neuropsychopharmacology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- IMT Institutional Repository (IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca) (acceptedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- CINECA IRIS Institutial research information system (University of Pisa) (submittedVersion)
- Iris (University of Trento) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of Mental Health (ZIAMH002813)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Cholinesterase and Neurodegenerative Diseases
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors Study
- Keywords
- cholinergic modulation, selective attention, physostigmine, scopolamine, acetylcholine, attentional shift, stimulus salience, reaction time, top-down attention, bottom-up attention, attentional bias
- MeSH terms
- Acetylcholine, Adult, Attention, Choice Behavior, Cholinesterase Inhibitors, Cues, Double-Blind Method, Female, Humans, Male, Neuropsychological Tests, Pattern Recognition, Visual, Photic Stimulation, Physostigmine, Psychomotor Performance, Reaction Time, Scopolamine, Time Factors, Cross-Over Studies, Cholinergic Antagonists
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