The dopaminergic and noradrenergic attentional centers.
The brain has 2 attention centers: the anterior (anterior, ventral) dopaminergic-controlled attention center and the posterior (posterior) noradrenergic-controlled attention center.
1. The anterior (anterior, ventral) attention center
- Dopaminergic controlled
- Tasks:
- Attentional control, including control of the individual parts of the brain that process perceptions (reading, seeing, word comprehension, 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 occur in subcortical structures, primarily striatum and thalamus
- Components:
- Cingulum
- Prefrontal cortex
2. The posterior (posterior) attention center
- Noradrenergic controlled
- Tasks:
- Recognition of new stimuli
- Use of alerts to increase attention and task performance1
- Vigilance = alertness = sustained attention at a monotonous stimulus frequency
- Orientation responses
- Components
- Right (dorsal) paretic lobe
- Colliculi superiores
- Pulvinar (posterior part of the thalamus)
- Activation takes place through
- Nucleus coeruleus
Dopaminergic drugs address anterior attention center functions alone, noradrenergic drugs affect functions controlled by the posterior attention center in the parietal cortex.