Skip to main content
PMC home page
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1994 Aug 2;91(16):7398–7403. doi: 10.1073/pnas.91.16.7398

Attention: the mechanisms of consciousness.

M I Posner 1
PMCID: PMC44408  PMID: 8052596

Abstract

A number of recent papers and books discuss theoretical efforts toward a scientific understanding of consciousness. Progress in imaging networks of brain areas active when people perform simple tasks may provide a useful empirical background for distinguishing conscious and unconscious information processing. Attentional networks include those involved in orienting to sensory stimuli, activating ideas from memory, and maintaining the alert state. This paper reviews recent findings in relation to classical issues in the study of attention and anatomical and physical theories of the nature of consciousness.

Full text

PDF
7398

Images in this article

7400Image
on p.7400

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Beck F., Eccles J. C. Quantum aspects of brain activity and the role of consciousness. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1992 Dec 1;89(23):11357–11361. doi: 10.1073/pnas.89.23.11357. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Chelazzi L., Miller E. K., Duncan J., Desimone R. A neural basis for visual search in inferior temporal cortex. Nature. 1993 May 27;363(6427):345–347. doi: 10.1038/363345a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Corbetta M., Miezin F. M., Dobmeyer S., Shulman G. L., Petersen S. E. Selective and divided attention during visual discriminations of shape, color, and speed: functional anatomy by positron emission tomography. J Neurosci. 1991 Aug;11(8):2383–2402. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.11-08-02383.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Corbetta M., Miezin F. M., Shulman G. L., Petersen S. E. A PET study of visuospatial attention. J Neurosci. 1993 Mar;13(3):1202–1226. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.13-03-01202.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Funahashi S., Chafee M. V., Goldman-Rakic P. S. Prefrontal neuronal activity in rhesus monkeys performing a delayed anti-saccade task. Nature. 1993 Oct 21;365(6448):753–756. doi: 10.1038/365753a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Goldman-Rakic P. S. Topography of cognition: parallel distributed networks in primate association cortex. Annu Rev Neurosci. 1988;11:137–156. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ne.11.030188.001033. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Iwasaki S. Spatial attention and two modes of visual consciousness. Cognition. 1993 Dec;49(3):211–233. doi: 10.1016/0010-0277(93)90005-g. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Jonides J., Smith E. E., Koeppe R. A., Awh E., Minoshima S., Mintun M. A. Spatial working memory in humans as revealed by PET. Nature. 1993 Jun 17;363(6430):623–625. doi: 10.1038/363623a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. LaBerge D., Buchsbaum M. S. Positron emission tomographic measurements of pulvinar activity during an attention task. J Neurosci. 1990 Feb;10(2):613–619. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.10-02-00613.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Luck S. J., Hillyard S. A., Mangun G. R., Gazzaniga M. S. Independent hemispheric attentional systems mediate visual search in split-brain patients. Nature. 1989 Nov 30;342(6249):543–545. doi: 10.1038/342543a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Moran J., Desimone R. Selective attention gates visual processing in the extrastriate cortex. Science. 1985 Aug 23;229(4715):782–784. doi: 10.1126/science.4023713. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Paulesu E., Frith C. D., Frackowiak R. S. The neural correlates of the verbal component of working memory. Nature. 1993 Mar 25;362(6418):342–345. doi: 10.1038/362342a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Posner M. I., Dehaene S. Attentional networks. Trends Neurosci. 1994 Feb;17(2):75–79. doi: 10.1016/0166-2236(94)90078-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Robertson L. C., Lamb M. R., Knight R. T. Effects of lesions of temporal-parietal junction on perceptual and attentional processing in humans. J Neurosci. 1988 Oct;8(10):3757–3769. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.08-10-03757.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Vogt B. A., Finch D. M., Olson C. R. Functional heterogeneity in cingulate cortex: the anterior executive and posterior evaluative regions. Cereb Cortex. 1992 Nov-Dec;2(6):435–443. doi: 10.1093/cercor/2.6.435-a. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Wilson F. A., Scalaidhe S. P., Goldman-Rakic P. S. Dissociation of object and spatial processing domains in primate prefrontal cortex. Science. 1993 Jun 25;260(5116):1955–1958. doi: 10.1126/science.8316836. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Wolfe J. M., Cave K. R., Franzel S. L. Guided search: an alternative to the feature integration model for visual search. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform. 1989 Aug;15(3):419–433. doi: 10.1037//0096-1523.15.3.419. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America are provided here courtesy of National Academy of Sciences

RESOURCES