Figure 1.

Shared and unique networks for attentional selection and prioritization in working memory. A. Spatial cues directing attention to external stimuli or to contents in working memory both activate a network spanning frontal eye fields, the pre-supplementary motor cortex and anterior cingulate, the intraparietal sulcus, and the superior parietal lobule [49]. B. This overlap has been confirmed in multiple neuroimaging studies [54] and a meta-analysis [59]. C. Additional areas respond only to prioritization within working memory, including ventrolateral prefrontal cortex stretching into the frontal operculum and anterior insula. In the pre-SMA and ACC, activation is either stronger than during external attention shifts, or additional subregions are recruited [52]. D. A recent meta-analysis [59] found several mostly prefrontal areas responding to retrocues (internal prioritization, red) but not to precues (external prioritization, blue).