scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question
Author

Trevor W. Robbins

Bio: Trevor W. Robbins is an academic researcher from University of Cambridge. The author has contributed to research in topics: Prefrontal cortex & Impulsivity. The author has an hindex of 231, co-authored 1137 publications receiving 164437 citations. Previous affiliations of Trevor W. Robbins include Centre national de la recherche scientifique & Massachusetts Institute of Technology.


Papers
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is anticipated that the application of refined and novel positron emission tomography methodology will help to disentangle the overlapping and dissociable contributions of DA and noradrenaline in the prefrontal cortex, thereby aiding the understanding of ADHD and facilitating new treatments.

492 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Data indicate that modafinil selectively improves neuropsychological task performance, suggesting that modAFinil may be of benefit in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Abstract: Rationale. Modafinil, a novel wake-promoting agent, has been shown to have a similar clinical profile to that of conventional stimulants such as methylphenidate. We were therefore interested in assessing whether modafinil, with its unique pharmacological mode of action, might offer similar potential as a cognitive enhancer, without the side effects commonly experienced with amphetamine-like drugs. Objectives. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the cognitive enhancing potential of this novel agent using a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests. Methods. Sixty healthy young adult male volunteers received either a single oral dose of placebo, or 100 mg or 200 mg modafinil prior to performing a variety of tasks designed to test memory and attention. A randomised double-blind, between-subjects design was used. Results. Modafinil significantly enhanced performance on tests of digit span, visual pattern recognition memory, spatial planning and stop-signal reaction time. These performance improvements were complemented by a slowing in latency on three tests: delayed matching to sample, a decision-making task and the spatial planning task. Subjects reported feeling more alert, attentive and energetic on drug. The effects were not clearly dose dependent, except for those seen with the stop-signal paradigm. In contrast to previous findings with methylphenidate, there were no significant effects of drug on spatial memory span, spatial working memory, rapid visual information processing or attentional set-shifting. Additionally, no effects on paired associates learning were identified. Conclusions. These data indicate that modafinil selectively improves neuropsychological task performance. This improvement may be attributable to an enhanced ability to inhibit pre-potent responses. This effect appears to reduce impulsive responding, suggesting that modafinil may be of benefit in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

491 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The strategies the IMAGEN consortium used to meet the challenges posed by large-scale multicentre imaging–genomics investigations are described, including standardization of the clinical, psychometric and neuroimaging-acquisition protocols, development of a central database for efficient analyses of large multimodal data sets and new analytic approaches to large- scale genetic neuroim imaging analyses.
Abstract: The IMAGEN study: reinforcement-related behaviour in normal brain function and psychopathology

490 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The first experimental evidence for selective impairment in flexible and goal-directed behavioral control in patients with OCD is provided, forcing patients to rely instead on habits that can be triggered by stimuli regardless of the desirability of the consequences.
Abstract: Objective:Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by repetitive, ritualistic behaviors and thought patterns. Although patients with OCD report that these compulsive behaviors are unproductive and often senseless, they are unable to desist. This study investigated whether the urge to perform compulsive acts is mediated by a disruption in the balance between flexible, goal-directed action control and habitual behavior. Method:A total of 21 patients with OCD and 30 healthy comparison subjects participated in a set of tasks designed to assess relative goal-directed versus habitual behavioral control. In the training stage, participants were asked to respond to different pictured stimuli in order to gain rewarding outcomes. In the subsequent (instructed) outcome devaluation test and in a novel “slips-of-action” test, the authors assessed whether participants were able to flexibly adjust their behavior to changes in the desirability of the outcomes. The authors also used a questionnaire to test exp...

490 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is proposed that many of the functional consequences of ibotenic acid lesions on mnemonic tasks cannot be attributed to disruption of basal forebrain cholinergic systems, but may instead result from damage in the globus pallidus to corticostriatal output pathways.

488 citations


Cited by
More filters
28 Jul 2005
TL;DR: PfPMP1)与感染红细胞、树突状组胞以及胎盘的单个或多个受体作用,在黏附及免疫逃避中起关键的作�ly.
Abstract: 抗原变异可使得多种致病微生物易于逃避宿主免疫应答。表达在感染红细胞表面的恶性疟原虫红细胞表面蛋白1(PfPMP1)与感染红细胞、内皮细胞、树突状细胞以及胎盘的单个或多个受体作用,在黏附及免疫逃避中起关键的作用。每个单倍体基因组var基因家族编码约60种成员,通过启动转录不同的var基因变异体为抗原变异提供了分子基础。

18,940 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results suggest that it is important to recognize both the unity and diversity ofExecutive functions and that latent variable analysis is a useful approach to studying the organization and roles of executive functions.

12,182 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Evidence for partially segregated networks of brain areas that carry out different attentional functions is reviewed, finding that one system is involved in preparing and applying goal-directed selection for stimuli and responses, and the other is specialized for the detection of behaviourally relevant stimuli.
Abstract: We review evidence for partially segregated networks of brain areas that carry out different attentional functions. One system, which includes parts of the intraparietal cortex and superior frontal cortex, is involved in preparing and applying goal-directed (top-down) selection for stimuli and responses. This system is also modulated by the detection of stimuli. The other system, which includes the temporoparietal cortex and inferior frontal cortex, and is largely lateralized to the right hemisphere, is not involved in top-down selection. Instead, this system is specialized for the detection of behaviourally relevant stimuli, particularly when they are salient or unexpected. This ventral frontoparietal network works as a 'circuit breaker' for the dorsal system, directing attention to salient events. Both attentional systems interact during normal vision, and both are disrupted in unilateral spatial neglect.

10,985 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is proposed that cognitive control stems from the active maintenance of patterns of activity in the prefrontal cortex that represent goals and the means to achieve them, which provide bias signals to other brain structures whose net effect is to guide the flow of activity along neural pathways that establish the proper mappings between inputs, internal states, and outputs needed to perform a given task.
Abstract: ▪ Abstract The prefrontal cortex has long been suspected to play an important role in cognitive control, in the ability to orchestrate thought and action in accordance with internal goals. Its neural basis, however, has remained a mystery. Here, we propose that cognitive control stems from the active maintenance of patterns of activity in the prefrontal cortex that represent goals and the means to achieve them. They provide bias signals to other brain structures whose net effect is to guide the flow of activity along neural pathways that establish the proper mappings between inputs, internal states, and outputs needed to perform a given task. We review neurophysiological, neurobiological, neuroimaging, and computational studies that support this theory and discuss its implications as well as further issues to be addressed

10,943 citations

Book ChapterDOI
TL;DR: This chapter demonstrates the functional importance of dopamine to working memory function in several ways and demonstrates that a network of brain regions, including the prefrontal cortex, is critical for the active maintenance of internal representations.
Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the modern notion of short-term memory, called working memory. Working memory refers to the temporary maintenance of information that was just experienced or just retrieved from long-term memory but no longer exists in the external environment. These internal representations are short-lived, but can be maintained for longer periods of time through active rehearsal strategies, and can be subjected to various operations that manipulate the information in such a way that makes it useful for goal-directed behavior. Working memory is a system that is critically important in cognition and seems necessary in the course of performing many other cognitive functions, such as reasoning, language comprehension, planning, and spatial processing. This chapter demonstrates the functional importance of dopamine to working memory function in several ways. Elucidation of the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying human working memory is an important focus of cognitive neuroscience and neurology for much of the past decade. One conclusion that arises from research is that working memory, a faculty that enables temporary storage and manipulation of information in the service of behavioral goals, can be viewed as neither a unitary, nor a dedicated system. Data from numerous neuropsychological and neurophysiological studies in animals and humans demonstrates that a network of brain regions, including the prefrontal cortex, is critical for the active maintenance of internal representations.

10,081 citations