Reaction Paper: The neural bases of momentary lapses in attention

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Reaction Paper: The neural bases of momentary lapses in attention

This is a study conducted by (D H Weissman1, K C Roberts1, K M Visscher2 & M G Woldorff1) looks into the issue of memory lapse and tries to explain why people often experience distractions and what can be done to reduce distraction. An experiment was conducted which used sixteen participants. The group consisted of 9 males and 7 females all of who were healthy with zero history of neurological disorders or trauma. Everyone had normal or corrected to normal vision and were right handed except one. The experiment lasted for about 2 hours. The participants were required to either large global letters or small local letters which appeared after a span of 200ms. At the center of the screen, a red fixation dot was displayed. The participants were given two options to choose from. The first option was global H made of local Hs or a global S made of local Ss and the second option was (a global H made of local Ss or a global S made of local Hs) (Weissman, 2006).

The participants were required to press different buttons depending on which letter was displayed between H and S. The interval display of the letters followed an exponential distribution pattern making it difficult to predict. The intertrial interval in responses gives an insight into how the brain responds to different overlapping stimuli. The results from the experiment indicated that the participants performed very accurately the global/local selection attention task with a mean error rate of 3.28%. This is a clear indication that it is difficult to recognise an object’s local parts and easier to identify the global shape. The mean response time (RT) for the participants was lower when they identified local letters than when they were required to identify global letters. Performance reduced considerable when local letters and global letters were mapped to an incongruent stimuli with conflicting responses. When the local letters and global letters were mapped to a congruent stimuli, which gives the same response, the performance of the participants improved. The mean RT recorded was 630ms against 594 ms (Weissman, 2006). Other behavioural effects which were investigated remained insignificant.

Through the experiment, the group was able to come up with a conclusion of the interrelationship between brain activity and human response time. From the investigation, the group determined that reduced prestimulus activity in the brain areas of right prefrontal region and anterior angulate which are responsible for controlling attention resulted in memory lapse. Distraction also comes as a result of increased brain activity in the parietal cortex and frontal regions of the brain. Reduced stimuli sensory activity and less deactivation of the default mode are all contributors of attentional lapses.

In order to recover from attentional lapses, the brain needs increased prestimulus activity in the brain areas of right prefrontal region and anterior angulate which are responsible for controlling attention. A deep understanding on the patterns of brain activity helps to reduce attentional lapses and creates a platform of building goal-directed behaviour.

This research has been quite informative since it reflects on the challenges that we face daily as human beings. From time to time it becomes difficult to concentrate on a certain task or goal. Our minds seem to have unending distractions. Understanding the connection between brain activity and human response time helps to illuminate more on the issue of minimizing distraction which leads to efficiency in work performance.

The strengths of this study is that it is very informative. The group gives a detailed explanation in the discussion section on the causes of attention lapses in human beings. They give six major reasons which contribute to attention lapse. Momentary lapses in attention are associated with reduced activity in the frontal cortex, reduced task-induced deactivation of the default-mode network, reduced stimulus-triggered activity in bilateral IOC and increased activity in higher-level brain regions that identify and respond to behaviourally relevant stimuli.

The choice of multiple linear regression method to analyse each participant is quite commendable. This is because the experiment deals with more than one predictor variable. Multiple linear regression gives the study the ability to determine the influence of the predictor variables over the criterion variable. This method also gives the advantage in the ability to identify outliers or anomalies in the experiment. The use of ANOVA on average functional magnetic resonance imaging response on target stimuli to determine which regions showed task-induced deactivation is well used. ANOVA is the best quantitative research method to test hypotheses when a research is dealing with two or more means. ANOVA method compares the different groups by analysing and comparing the variance estimates.

The methodology, hypotheses and interpretation of the experiment is commendable. The limitation of the study is that it focused more on the cause of attentional lapse rather than giving a conclusion on how we can minimize distraction. It is good to know the source of a problem. It is even better when we are able to come up with a solution.

I think the paper was impactful because it opened up my understanding on why I find it difficult to concentrate on an activity let’s say studying for a test. I now understand that there are brain regions that are responsible for attentional lapses. Momentary lapses in attention are associated with reduced activity in the frontal cortex before behaviourally relevant stimuli are presented. Reduced task-induced deactivation of the default-mode network and reduced stimulus-triggered activity in bilateral IOC are other main causes displaying attention deficit behaviour.

The work presented in this research is very much related to problems in our present day world. People encounter distractions and attention lapses every day. There is a high prevalence of attentional lapse in our present day world. The main cause of accidents today is distraction. A driver is distracted by a phone call and ends up causing an accident. There are many work related injuries especially in factories which are as a result of people focusing on one thing and forgetting their main goal.

Reference

Weissman, D. H., Roberts, K. C., Visscher, K. M., & Woldorff, M. G. (2006). The neural bases of momentary lapses in attention. Nature neuroscience, 9(7), 971.