What brain regions are involved in selective attention?5 answersSelective attention involves the activation of several brain regions. The Frontal Eye-Field (FEF), parietal cortex, superior colliculus, and visual cortex are implicated in attentional selection and eye-movement control. The mid superior temporal gyrus (STG), sulcus (STS), posterior STS, and fusiform gyrus are involved in processing speech, human voices, and audiovisual information. The fronto-parietal cortex plays a role in attentional control and attentional demands. The thalamus influences attention through its connections with sensory areas. The orbitofrontal/ventromedial prefrontal cortex and posterior cingulate gyrus are engaged during attention to naturalistic conversations. These findings suggest that attention is implemented by a large-scale network involving frontal, parietal, temporal, and subcortical regions, which work together to guide attentional selection and process relevant stimuli.
What are the factors affecting selective attention?5 answersSelective attention is influenced by several factors. One factor is the competition between endogenous (goal-driven) and exogenous (stimulus-driven) factors. This competition determines which stimuli are selected, both externally and internally. Another factor is familiarity with particular unisensory representations, such as number words versus digits. Familiarity-based influences interact with multisensory influences to shape selective attention. Motivational stimuli, such as rewards, also play a role in selective attention. They can bias attentional selection and influence cognitive functions. Additionally, trait and state OCD symptoms have been studied in relation to selective attention. However, the relationship between OCD and selective attention is complex and may differ from that of anxiety disorders. Finally, in computer-based assessments of selective attention, factors such as type, size, color, and the relationship between target and background can impact performance.
How does technology impact selective attention?2 answersTechnology has a significant impact on selective attention. Customizability technology, especially system-driven customizability, increases selective exposure to political news. It has a stronger effect on minimizing exposure to counter-attitudinal information than on increasing exposure to pro-attitudinal information. This effect is particularly strong for ideologically moderate individuals. In the field of robotics, incorporating high-bandwidth I/O such as vision and sound inputs provides robots with more information about the environment. However, controlling perception becomes more challenging with these additional inputs. Humans use selective attention to control the amount of perceptual input processed. Visual input, in particular, requires a top-down attention mechanism for efficient processing. Overall, technology influences selective attention by shaping exposure to information and presenting new challenges in perception control.
What is the definition of selective attention in the context of sports?5 answersSelective attention in the context of sports refers to the ability of athletes to focus their mental processing capacity on specific elements or tasks within a sport. It involves the allocation of attention to relevant cues or stimuli while ignoring distractions or irrelevant information. Studies have used techniques such as occlusion and eye-tracking to examine the orientation of visual attention during sport task performance. Skilled sport participants have been found to track the initial flight of the ball and then "shoot ahead" to the final portion of flight, indicating a selective attentional focus. The concept of selective attention is important in understanding the factors that contribute to successful performance in sports.
Can selective attention be improved?5 answersSelective attention can be improved through various methods. One approach is neurofeedback training, which enhances the cortical processing for auditory selective attention. Another method is the use of visual feature-based attention, which can improve the learning efficiency and flexibility of Deep Reinforcement Learning (RL) algorithms. Additionally, an improved selective attention model using spiking neurons with star-like connections has shown the ability to sequentially select objects with different orientation preferences. Furthermore, the use of spatial coherence detection in auditory Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) has been found to improve the performance of selective attention-based BCIs. Finally, a model combining biased-competition attention with a habituation mechanism has demonstrated that selective attention can improve learning by requiring fewer samples to learn a source separation problem.
What is selective attention?2 answersSelective attention refers to the ability to focus on goal-relevant information while filtering out irrelevant information. It is a mechanism by which the limited resources of our mental architecture are diverted to preferentially process stimuli that are more likely to be relevant. Selective attention can be object-biased in children, making it difficult for them to filter attention to goal-irrelevant objects, while attention in adults is relatively unbiased. In the context of visual feature-based attention, it involves identifying features of the visual input that are important for the current task, regardless of their spatial location. Selective attention can improve the efficiency of Reinforcement Learning algorithms and guide learning towards relevant features. It is not a function achieved de novo with the emergence of the neocortex, but instead is implemented by circuits accrued and modified over hundreds of millions of years. Allocating attention to products while neglecting others can lead to an increase in preferences compared to just looking at products.