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The dopaminergic and noradrenergic attention centers

The dopaminergic and noradrenergic attention centers

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The brain has several attention centers. The descriptions from the various sources seem to diverge.

Azizi, 20201 described attention as follows:

Attention is the cognitive process of selectively concentrating on a salient (interest arousing) aspect of the stimuli presented to an individual. It is controlled by reinforcing contextually significant inputs and filtering out other sensory stimuli. Attention is divided into

  • sensory attention
    • salient (interest arousing) stimuli are perceived
    • Control by posterior parietal lobe and its connectome
  • Alertness (motor component)
    • Alignment of the sensors to the objects of interest
    • Control by PFC and frontal cortices

The two attention centers work together intensively. Robust connections between them form a continuous two-way communication loop.

  • Noradrenergic projections to the posterior parietal lobes and prefrontal areas focus and enhance attention
  • Serotonergic inputs tend to disperse attention (broader attention)
  • Dopaminergic projections to PFC and frontal cortices modulate vigilance, i.e. (motor) attentional behavior

Noradrenaline and serotonin are therefore mainly modulators of the sensorium and perception, including emotions, while dopamine primarily modulates motor action.
Noradrenaline increases and serotonin decreases the signal-to-noise ratio in the sensory areas of the cerebral cortex depending on the context.

1. The posterior attention center

After Rostain.2

  • Noradrenergic controlled3
  • Tasks:
    • Recognition of new stimuli
    • Use of warnings to increase attention and task completion4
    • Vigilance = alertness = continuous attention with a monotonous stimulus frequency
    • Orientation reactions
  • Components
    • Right (dorsal) parietal lobe
    • Colliculi superiores
    • Pulvinar (posterior part of the thalamus)
  • Activation is noradrenergic through
    • Nucleus coeruleus

Dopaminergic drugs only address the functions of the anterior attention center, noradrenergic drugs influence the functions controlled by the posterior attention center in the parietal cortex.

2. Two frontoparietal attention centers

Corbetta et al and Kim distinguish 2 frontoparietal attention networks 56
In idle mode, both networks operate separately.
The activated dorsal network (focused attention, concentration) suppresses the ventral network to prevent reorientation to distracting events.
Joint activation through unexpected important events that cause a refocusing of attention.

2.1. Dorsal frontoparietal attention centers

  • The dorsal frontoparietal attention network controls
    • Focusing attention on central, expected and exploitable stimuli (concentration)
    • Linking stimuli and reactions
    • Top-down attention control
    • Dorsal fronto-parietal brain regions involved in5
      • Intraparietal sulcus
      • Lobulus parietalis superior
        • Part of the parietal lobe of the cerebrum, also known as the cortical sensory subfield
      • Frontal eye fields
      • Visual regions of the occipital cortex
    • Main neurotransmitter: acetylcholine7

2.2. Ventral frontoparietal attention centers

  • The ventral frontoparietal attention network controls
    • Interruption of ongoing activities and their resumption (distractibility)
    • Redirecting attention to peripheral, unexpected (e.g. alarming) and explorable stimuli (task switching)
    • Destruction of noradrenaline receptors causes increased distractibility8
    • Ventral brain regions involved in:5
      • Supramarginal gyrus
      • Superior temporal gyrus
      • Medium and inferior PFC
    • Control noradrenergic via locus coeruleus system910
      • Phasic noradrenaline from the locus coeruleus activates the arousal-dependent sensory and cognitive processing of conspicuous information, such as pain or startle stimuli, via the ventral attention network11, and thereby regulates various attentional functions during task execution.12

3. The anterior (ventral) attention center

According to Rostain2 and Peteren, Posner, who described this as the third (“executive”) attention center.10

  • Tasks:
    • Attention control, including control of the individual parts of the brain that process perceptions (reading, seeing, understanding words, etc.)
    • Working memory
    • Non-focused attention
    • Stimulus inhibition
    • Executive functions = central management system of the brain
      • Organization
      • Set priorities
      • Activation
      • Integration
      • Self-control
        Modulation and control takes place in subcortical structures, primarily the striatum and thalamus
  • Components:
    • ACC
    • MPFC
    • DlPFC
    • Operculum
    • Basal ganglia
  • Dopaminergic controlled7

  1. Azizi SA (2022): Monoamines: Dopamine, Norepinephrine, and Serotonin, Beyond Modulation, “Switches” That Alter the State of Target Networks. Neuroscientist. 2022 Apr;28(2):121-143. doi: 10.1177/1073858420974336. PMID: 33292070. REVIEW ↥

  2. Rostain (2015): The Neurobiology of ADHD, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, ab 00:06:10 ↥ ↥

  3. http://www.adhs.org/genese/ ↥

  4. Boxhoorn S, Bast N, Supèr H, Polzer L, Cholemkery H, Freitag CM (2020): Pupil dilation during visuospatial orienting differentiates between autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2020 May;61(5):614-624. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.13179. PMID: 31853987. ↥

  5. Corbetta M, Patel G, Shulman GL (2008): The reorienting system of the human brain: from environment to theory of mind. Neuron. 2008 May 8;58(3):306-24. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2008.04.017. PMID: 18466742; PMCID: PMC2441869. ↥ ↥ ↥

  6. Kim H (2014): Involvement of the dorsal and ventral attention networks in oddball stimulus processing: a meta-analysis. Hum Brain Mapp. 2014 May;35(5):2265-84. doi: 10.1002/hbm.22326. PMID: 23900833; PMCID: PMC6868981. METASTUDY ↥

  7. Rüsseler (2025): Klinische Neuropsychologie von Störungen der Aufmerksamkeit; Vortrag Metropolitan University, London ↥ ↥

  8. Trott, Wirth (2000): Die Pharmakotherapie der hyperkinetischen Störungen; in: Steinhausen (Herausgeber): Hyperkinetische Störungen bei Kindern, Jugendlichen und Erwachsenen, 2. Aufl., Seite 215 ↥

  9. Aston-Jones G, Cohen JD (2005): An integrative theory of locus coeruleus-norepinephrine function: adaptive gain and optimal performance. Annu Rev Neurosci. 2005;28:403-50. doi: 10.1146/annurev.neuro.28.061604.135709. PMID: 16022602. REVIEW ↥

  10. Petersen SE, Posner MI. The attention system of the human brain: 20 years after. Annu Rev Neurosci. 2012;35:73-89. doi: 10.1146/annurev-neuro-062111-150525. PMID: 22524787; PMCID: PMC3413263. REVIEW ↥ ↥

  11. Vazey EM, Moorman DE, Aston-Jones G (2018): Phasic locus coeruleus activity regulates cortical encoding of salience information. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018 Oct 2;115(40):E9439-E9448. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1803716115. PMID: 30232259; PMCID: PMC6176602. ↥

  12. Sara SJ, Bouret S (2012): Orienting and reorienting: the locus coeruleus mediates cognition through arousal. Neuron. 2012 Oct 4;76(1):130-41. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2012.09.011. PMID: 23040811. REVIEW ↥

Diese Seite wurde am 08.03.2026 zuletzt aktualisiert.
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