Pharmacological Manipulations of Physiological Arousal and Sleep-Like Slow Waves Modulate Sustained Attention.

Sustained attention describes our ability to keep a constant focus on a given task. This ability is modulated by our physiological state of arousal. Although lapses of sustained attention have been linked with dysregulations of arousal, the underlying physiological mechanisms remain unclear. An emerging body of work proposes that the intrusion during wakefulness of sleep-like slow waves, a marker of the transition toward sleep, could mechanistically account for attentional lapses. This study aimed to expose, via pharmacological manipulations of the monoamine system, the relationship between the occurrence of sleep-like slow waves and the behavioral consequences of sustained attention failures. In a double-blind, randomized-control trial, 32 healthy human male participants received methylphenidate, atomoxetine, citalopram or placebo during four separate experimental sessions. During each session, electroencephalography (EEG) was used to measure neural activity while participants completed a visual task requiring sustained attention. Methylphenidate, which increases wake-promoting dopamine and noradrenaline across cortical and subcortical areas, improved behavioral performance whereas atomoxetine, which increases dopamine and noradrenaline predominantly over frontal cortices, led to more impulsive responses. Additionally, citalopram, which increases sleep-promoting serotonin, led to more missed trials. Based on EEG recording, citalopram was also associated with an increase in sleep-like slow waves. Importantly, compared with a classical marker of arousal such as α power, only slow waves differentially predicted both misses and faster responses in a region-specific fashion. These results suggest that a decrease in arousal can lead to local sleep intrusions during wakefulness which could be mechanistically linked to impulsivity and sluggishness.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT We investigated whether the modulation of attention and arousal could not only share the same neuromodulatory pathways but also rely on similar neuronal mechanisms; for example, the intrusion of sleep-like activity within wakefulness. To do so, we pharmacologically manipulated noradrenaline, dopamine, and serotonin in a four-arm, randomized, placebo-controlled trial and examined the consequences on behavioral and electroencephalography (EEG) indices of attention and arousal. We showed that sleep-like slow waves can predict opposite behavioral signatures: impulsivity and sluggishness. Slow waves may be a candidate mechanism for the occurrence of attentional lapses since the relationship between slow-wave occurrence and performance is region-specific and the consequences of these local sleep intrusions are in line with the cognitive functions carried by the underlying brain regions.

Plasticity of the Right-Lateralized Cognitive Reserve Network in Ageing.

Cognitive reserve (CR) is the phenomenon where older adults with more cognitively stimulating environments show less age-related cognitive decline. The right-lateralized fronto-parietal network has been proposed to significantly contribute to CR and visual attention in ageing. In this study we tested whether plasticity of this network may be harnessed in ageing.We assessed CR and parameters of visual attention capacity in older adults. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) was employed to increase right fronto-parietal activity during a lateralized whole-report task. At baseline, older adults with greater CR showed a stronger hemifield asymmetry in processing speed towards the left visual-field, indicative of stronger involvement of the right hemisphere in these individuals. Correspondingly, processing speed improved during right prefrontal tDCS. Older adults with lower levels of CR showed tDCS-related improvements in processing speed in the left but not right hemifield: thus tDCS temporarily altered their processing speed asymmetry to resemble that of their high reserve peers.The finding that stronger right hemisphere involvement is related to CR supports Robertson's theory. Furthermore, preserved plasticity within the right prefrontal cortex in older adults suggests this is a viable target area to improve visual processing speed, a hallmark of age-related decline.

Prefrontal Modulation of Visual Processing and Sustained Attention in Aging, a tDCS-EEG Coregistration Approach.

The ability to sustain attention is integral to healthy cognition in aging. The right PFC (rPFC) is critical for maintaining high levels of attentional focus. Whether plasticity of this region can be harnessed to support sustained attention in older adults is unknown. We used transcranial direct current stimulation to increase cortical excitability of the rPFC, while monitoring behavioral and electrophysiological markers of sustained attention in older adults with suboptimal sustained attention capacity. During rPFC transcranial direct current stimulation, fewer lapses of attention occurred and electroencephalography signals of frontal engagement and early visual attention were enhanced. To further verify these results, we repeated the experiment in an independent cohort of cognitively typical older adults using a different sustained attention paradigm. Again, prefrontal stimulation was associated with fewer attentional lapses. These experiments suggest the rPFC can be manipulated in later years to increase top-down modulation over early sensory processing and improve sustained attention performance. This holds valuable information for the development of neurorehabilitation protocols to ameliorate age-related deficits in this capacity.

Domain-specific and domain-general processes underlying metacognitive judgments.

Metacognition and self-awareness are commonly assumed to operate as global capacities. However, there have been few attempts to test this assumption across multiple cognitive domains and metacognitive evaluations. Here, we assessed the covariance between "online" metacognitive processes, as measured by decision confidence judgments in the domains of perception and memory, and error awareness in the domain of attention to action. Previous research investigating metacognition across task domains have not matched stimulus characteristics across tasks raising the possibility that any differences in metacognitive accuracy may be influenced by local task properties. The current experiment measured metacognition in perceptual, memorial and attention tasks that were closely matched for stimulus characteristics. We found that metacognitive accuracy across the three tasks was dissociated suggesting that domain specific networks support an individual's capacity for accurate metacognition. This finding was independent of objective performance, which was controlled using a staircase procedure. However, response times for metacognitive judgments and error awareness were associated suggesting that shared mechanisms determining how these meta-level evaluations unfold in time may underlie these different types of decision. In addition, the relationship between these laboratory measures of metacognition and reports of everyday functioning from participants and their significant others (informants) was investigated. We found that informant reports, but not self reports, predicted metacognitive accuracy on the perceptual task and participants who underreported cognitive difficulties relative to their informants also showed poorer metacognitive accuracy on the perceptual task. These results are discussed in the context of models of metacognitive regulation and neuropsychological evidence for dissociable metacognitive systems. The potential for the refinement of metacognitive assessment in clinical populations is also discussed.

Connecting Self-Awareness and Error-Awareness in Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury.

Impaired self-awareness after traumatic brain injury (TBI) is often seen in stark contrast to the observations of significant-others, who are acutely aware of the difficulties experienced by patients. Our objective was to investigate the relationship between metacognitive knowledge in daily life and emergent awareness of errors during laboratory tasks, since the breakdown of error detection mechanisms may impose limitations on the recovery of metacognitive knowledge after TBI. We also examined the extent to which these measures of awareness can predict dysexecutive behaviors. A sample of TBI patients (n=62) and their significant-others, provided reports of daily functioning post injury. In addition, patients underwent a neuropsychological assessment and were instructed to signal their errors during go/no-go tests. Interrelationships between metacognitive and emergent levels of awareness were examined, after controlling for the influence of secondary cognitive variables. Significant-other ratings correlated with errors made by the patients on neuropsychological tests but not with their premorbid function. Patients who under-reported daily life difficulties or over-reported their competency, compared to significant-other reports, were less likely to show awareness of laboratory errors. Emergent awareness was also identified as the sole predictor of performance on the modified six-element test, an ecologically valid test of multitasking. The online breakdown of error awareness after brain injury is related to difficulties with metacognitive awareness as reported in daily life, and is also predictive of dysexecutive behaviors. These findings are discussed in the context of multidimensional and neural models of awareness and error monitoring.

Characterising neural signatures of successful aging: Electrophysiological correlates of preserved episodic memory in older age.

While aging is associated with a gradual decline in memory, substantial preservation of function is observed in certain individuals and dissecting this heterogeneity is paramount to understanding successful aging. A cohort of elderly individuals were classified according to their level of memory preservation and administered a test of episodic memory in which participants were cued to learn or simply read each word and then to identify previously presented items in a delayed recognition phase. Mathematical modelling revealed that relatively preserved memory function was specifically linked to a faster rate of memorial evidence accumulation (drift rate). Analysis of event-related potentials at encoding revealed that high-performing elderly exhibited signals over parietal regions that discriminated between words to be learned vs. read for an additional 300-ms compared to young subjects suggesting a compensatory encoding mechanism that was absent in the low-performing group. At recognition, parietal signals associated with recollection processes discriminated previously learned words from read words in the young and high-performing old but not in low-performing old. These results reveal that successful aging is associated with specific adaptive neural markers during both encoding and retrieval.

The effects of immunologic brainstem encephalopathy on cognitive function following awakening from a progressive autoimmune coma.

We describe a unique patient who experienced a progressive autoimmune coma from age 14 to 17. The patient awoke after treatment with immunosuppressant medication. Although alertness, verbalization, and mobilization markedly improved, the patient reported persistent cognitive difficulties. Neuropsychological assessment from age 21 showed impairments in selective attention, distractibility, and memory. Conversely, higher-order executive functions were preserved. Electrophysiological analysis also identified abnormal neural signatures of selective attention. Eighteen months after the neuropsychological assessment, voxel-based morphometry revealed reduced white matter in the medulla compared to controls. The findings are discussed in terms of the impact of brainstem encephalopathy on cognitive mechanisms.

Meditation Experience is Associated with Increased Structural Integrity of the Pineal Gland and greater total Grey Matter maintenance.

Growing evidence demonstrates that meditation practice supports cognitive functions including attention and interoceptive processing, and is associated with structural changes across cortical networks including prefrontal regions, and the insula. However, the extent of subcortical morphometric changes linked to meditation practice is less appreciated. A noteworthy candidate is the Pineal Gland, a key producer of melatonin, which regulates circadian rhythms that augment sleep-wake patterns, and may also provide neuroprotective benefits to offset cognitive decline. Increased melatonin levels as well as increased fMRI BOLD signal in the Pineal Gland has been observed in mediators vs. controls. However, it is not known if long-term meditators exhibit structural change in the Pineal Gland linked to lifetime duration of practice. In the current study we performed Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis to investigate: 1) whether long-term meditators (LTMs) (n=14) exhibited greater Pineal Gland integrity compared to a control group (n=969), 2) a potential association between the estimated lifetime hours of meditation (ELHOM) and Pineal Gland integrity, and 3) whether LTMs show greater Grey Matter (GM) maintenance (BrainPAD) that is associated with Pineal Gland integrity. The results revealed greater Pineal Gland integrity and lower BrainPAD scores (younger brain age) in LTMs compared to controls. Exploratory analysis revealed a positive association between ELHOM and greater signal intensity in the Pineal Gland but not with GM maintenance as measured by BrainPAD score. However, greater Pineal integrity and lower BrainPAD scores were correlated in LTMs. The potential mechanisms by which meditation influences Pineal Gland function, hormonal metabolism, and GM maintenance are discussed - in particular melatonin's roles in sleep, immune response, inflammation modulation, and stem cell and neural regeneration.

Dissociating the impact of alexithymia and impaired self-awareness on emotional distress and aggression after traumatic brain injury.

OBJECTIVE: Alexithymia, a deficit in identifying and describing feelings, is prevalent in traumatic brain injury (TBI). Sometimes referred to as "emotional unawareness," we sought to investigate whether alexithymia after TBI was related to, or distinct from, impaired self-awareness (ISA) and whether the two predicted differentiable emotional and aggression profiles. Further, the mediating role of frontal system behaviors (disinhibition, dysexecutive function, apathy) was explored. METHOD: Participants with TBI (N = 40) from diverse backgrounds completed self-report measures of alexithymia, emotional distress, aggression, and frontal system behaviors. For the assessment of ISA, significant other ratings were obtained to identify discrepancies from self-ratings. Data were analyzed quantitatively using independent samples t tests, correlations, partial correlations, and simple mediation. RESULTS: There was a negative correlation between alexithymia and ISA. Alexithymia, but not ISA, was associated with higher expressions of emotional distress and aggression even after controlling for the effects of ISA via partial correlations. Exploratory analyses found that frontal system behaviors mediated the relationships between alexithymia and aggression and alexithymia and emotional distress. CONCLUSIONS: Alexithymia is more accurately conceptualized as an emotional processing deficit than an awareness deficit. Indeed, self-awareness may be a prerequisite for the ability to identify alexithymic tendencies. Negative psychological effects of alexithymia are compounded by poorer executive function and disinhibition and call for the development of TBI-specific alexithymia screening tools and interventions. Alexithymia interventions are best delivered in conjunction with rehabilitation of emotion regulation and executive function. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Greater physical fitness ( VO 2 max ) in healthy older adults associated with increased integrity of the locus coeruleus-noradrenergic system.

AIM: Physical activity (PA) is a key component for brain health and Reserve, and it is among the main dementia protective factors. However, the neurobiological mechanisms underpinning Reserve are not fully understood. In this regard, a noradrenergic (NA) theory of cognitive reserve (Robertson, 2013) has proposed that the upregulation of NA system might be a key factor for building reserve and resilience to neurodegeneration because of the neuroprotective role of NA across the brain. PA elicits an enhanced catecholamine response, in particular for NA. By increasing physical commitment, a greater amount of NA is synthetised in response to higher oxygen demand. More physically trained individuals show greater capabilities to carry oxygen resulting in greater Vo 2 max - a measure of oxygen uptake and physical fitness (PF). METHODS: We hypothesized that greater Vo 2 max would be related to greater Locus Coeruleus (LC) MRI signal intensity. In a sample of 41 healthy subjects, we performed Voxel-Based Morphometry analyses, then repeated for the other neuromodulators as a control procedure (Serotonin, Dopamine and Acetylcholine). RESULTS: As hypothesized, greater Vo 2 max related to greater LC signal intensity, and weaker associations emerged for the other neuromodulators. CONCLUSION: This newly established link between Vo 2 max and LC-NA system offers further understanding of the neurobiology underpinning Reserve in relationship to PA. While this study supports Robertson's theory proposing the upregulation of the NA system as a possible key factor building Reserve, it also provides ground for increasing LC-NA system resilience to neurodegeneration via Vo 2 max enhancement.

Greater physical fitness (Vo2Max) in healthy older adults associated with increased integrity of the Locus Coeruleus-Noradrenergic system.

Physical activity (PA) is a key component for brain health and Reserve, and it is among the main dementia protective factors. However, the neurobiological mechanisms underpinning Reserve are not fully understood. In this regard, a noradrenergic (NA) theory of cognitive reserve (Robertson, 2013) has proposed that the upregulation of NA system might be a key factor for building reserve and resilience to neurodegeneration because of the neuroprotective role of NA across the brain. PA elicits an enhanced catecholamine response, in particular for NA. By increasing physical commitment, a greater amount of NA is synthetised in response to higher oxygen demand. More physically trained individuals show greater capabilities to carry oxygen resulting in greater Vo2max - a measure of oxygen uptake and physical fitness (PF). In the current study, we hypothesised that greater Vo2 max would be related to greater Locus Coeruleus (LC) MRI signal intensity. As hypothesised, greater Vo2max related to greater LC signal intensity across 41 healthy adults (age range 60-72). As a control procedure, in which these analyses were repeated for the other neuromodulators' seeds (for Serotonin, Dopamine and Acetylcholine), weaker associations emerged. This newly established link between Vo2max and LC-NA system offers further understanding of the neurobiology underpinning Reserve in relationship to PA. While this study supports Robertson's theory proposing the upregulation of the noradrenergic system as a possible key factor building Reserve, it also provide grounds for increasing LC-NA system resilience to neurodegeneration via Vo2max enhancement.

Impaired metacognition and reduced neural signals of decision confidence in adults with traumatic brain injury.

OBJECTIVE: Metacognition reflects our capacity to monitor or evaluate other cognitive states as they unfold during task performance, for example, our level of confidence in the veracity of a memory. Impaired metacognition is seen in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and substantially impacts their ability to manage functional difficulties during recovery. Recent evidence suggests that metacognitive representations reflect domain-specific processes (e.g., memory vs. perception) acting jointly with generic confidence signals mediated by widespread frontoparietal networks. The impact of neurological insult on metacognitive processes across different cognitive domains following TBI remains unknown. METHOD: To assess metacognitive accuracy, we measured decision confidence across both a perceptual and memory task in patients with TBI (n = 27) and controls (n = 28). During the metacognitive tasks, continuous electroencephalography was recorded, and event-related potentials (ERP) were analyzed. RESULTS: First, we observed a deficit in metacognitive efficiency across both tasks suggesting that patients show a loss of perceptual and memorial evidence available for confidence judgments despite equivalent accuracy levels to controls. Second, a late positive-going ERP waveform (500-700 ms) was greater in amplitude for high versus low-confidence judgements for controls across both task domains. By contrast, in patients with TBI, the same ERP waveform did not vary by confidence level suggesting a deficient or attenuated neural marker of decision confidence postinjury. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that diffuse damage to putative frontoparietal regions in patients disrupts domain-general metacognitive accuracy and electrophysiological signals that accumulate evidence of decision confidence. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

A Bridge between the Breath and the Brain: Synchronization of Respiration, a Pupillometric Marker of the Locus Coeruleus, and an EEG Marker of Attentional Control State.

Yogic and meditative traditions have long held that the fluctuations of the breath and the mind are intimately related. While respiratory modulation of cortical activity and attentional switching are established, the extent to which electrophysiological markers of attention exhibit synchronization with respiration is unknown. To this end, we examined (1) frontal midline theta-beta ratio (TBR), an indicator of attentional control state known to correlate with mind wandering episodes and functional connectivity of the executive control network; (2) pupil diameter (PD), a known proxy measure of locus coeruleus (LC) noradrenergic activity; and (3) respiration for evidence of phase synchronization and information transfer (multivariate Granger causality) during quiet restful breathing. Our results indicate that both TBR and PD are simultaneously synchronized with the breath, suggesting an underlying oscillation of an attentionally relevant electrophysiological index that is phase-locked to the respiratory cycle which could have the potential to bias the attentional system into switching states. We highlight the LC's pivotal role as a coupling mechanism between respiration and TBR, and elaborate on its dual functions as both a chemosensitive respiratory nucleus and a pacemaker of the attentional system. We further suggest that an appreciation of the dynamics of this weakly coupled oscillatory system could help deepen our understanding of the traditional claim of a relationship between breathing and attention.

Young and restless, old and focused: Age-differences in mind-wandering frequency and phenomenology.

The consistently observed age-accompanied diminution in mind-wandering stands seemingly opposed to accounts that present mind-wandering as a failure of executive control. This study examined the impact of aging on the frequency and phenomenology of mind-wandering and investigated distinct variables mediating age-related differences in unintentional and intentional mind-wandering. Thirty-four younger and 34 healthy older adults completed a neuropsychological test battery and contrast change detection task embedded with experience sampling probes asking participants to discriminate the nature of their thoughts. Results revealed age-related decreases in unintentional and intentional mind-wandering, but equivalent task accuracy. Parallel mediations demonstrated that older adults reduced their unintentional mind-wandering through having less anxiety and greater task engagement than younger adults. Despite the evidence of age-related decline on cognitive function tests, neither executive function nor task demand variables further contributed to the model. Our results adjudicate between competing theories, highlighting the roles of affective and motivational factors in unintentional mind-wandering. Intentional mind-wandering showed no significant associations with the neuropsychological measures; however, intentional mind-wandering was associated with more false alarms, which was mediated by greater reaction time variability (RTV). In the context of the exploitation/exploration framework, we suggest that younger adults were more inclined to intentionally mind-wander, indexed by increased RTV, while preserving comparable performance accuracy to older adults. Conversely, older adults exploited greater task focus, marked by reduced RTV, with less bias toward, or resources for, exploration of the mind-wandering space. Therefore, dispositional and strategic factors should be considered in future investigations of mind-wandering across the lifespan. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Examining the Role of the Noradrenergic Locus Coeruleus for Predicting Attention and Brain Maintenance in Healthy Old Age and Disease: An MRI Structural Study for the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative.

The noradrenergic theory of Cognitive Reserve (Robertson, 2013-2014) postulates that the upregulation of the locus coeruleus-noradrenergic system (LC-NA) originating in the brainstem might facilitate cortical networks involved in attention, and protracted activation of this system throughout the lifespan may enhance cognitive stimulation contributing to reserve. To test the above-mentioned theory, a study was conducted on a sample of 686 participants (395 controls, 156 mild cognitive impairment, 135 Alzheimer's disease) investigating the relationship between LC volume, attentional performance and a biological index of brain maintenance (BrainPAD-an objective measure, which compares an individual's structural brain health, reflected by their voxel-wise grey matter density, to the state typically expected at that individual's age). Further analyses were carried out on reserve indices including education and occupational attainment. Volumetric variation across groups was also explored along with gender differences. Control analyses on the serotoninergic (5-HT), dopaminergic (DA) and cholinergic (Ach) systems were contrasted with the noradrenergic (NA) hypothesis. The antithetic relationships were also tested across the neuromodulatory subcortical systems. Results supported by Bayesian modelling showed that LC volume disproportionately predicted higher attentional performance as well as biological brain maintenance across the three groups. These findings lend support to the role of the noradrenergic system as a key mediator underpinning the neuropsychology of reserve, and they suggest that early prevention strategies focused on the noradrenergic system (e.g., cognitive-attentive training, physical exercise, pharmacological and dietary interventions) may yield important clinical benefits to mitigate cognitive impairment with age and disease.

Uncovering the neural signature of lapsing attention: electrophysiological signals predict errors up to 20 s before they occur.

The extent to which changes in brain activity can foreshadow human error is uncertain yet has important theoretical and practical implications. The present study examined the temporal dynamics of electrocortical signals preceding a lapse of sustained attention. Twenty-one participants performed a continuous temporal expectancy task, which involved continuously monitoring a stream of regularly alternating patterned stimuli to detect a rarely occurring target stimulus whose duration was 40% longer. The stimulus stream flickered at a rate of 25 Hz to elicit a steady-state visual-evoked potential (SSVEP), which served as a continuous measure of basic visual processing. Increasing activity in the alpha band (8-14 Hz) was found beginning approximately 20 s before a missed target. This was followed by decreases in the amplitude of two event-related components over a short pretarget time frame: the frontal P3 (3-4 s) and contingent-negative variation (during the target interval). In contrast, SSVEP amplitude before hits and misses was closely matched, suggesting that the efficacy of ongoing basic visual processing was unaffected. Our results show that the specific neural signatures of attentional lapses are registered in the EEG up to 20 s before an error.

The neural correlates of deficient error awareness in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

The ability to detect and correct errors is critical to adaptive control of behaviour and represents a discrete neuropsychological function. A number of studies have highlighted that attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with abnormalities in behavioural and neural responsiveness to performance errors. One limitation of previous work has been a failure to determine the extent to which these differences are attributable to failures of conscious error awareness, a process that is dependent on the integrity of the frontal lobes. Recent advances in electrophysiological research make it possible to distinguish unconscious and conscious aspects of error processing. This study constitutes an extensive electrophysiological investigation of error awareness and error processing in ADHD. A Go/No-Go response inhibition task specifically designed to assess error awareness was administered to a group of adults diagnosed with ADHD and a group of matched control participants. The ADHD group made significantly more errors than the control group but was less likely to consciously detect these errors. An analysis of event-related potentials elicited by errors indicated that an early performance monitoring component (early positivity) was significantly attenuated in the ADHD group as was a later component that specifically reflects conscious error processing (Pe). Dipole source modelling suggested that abnormal Pe amplitudes were attributable to decreased activation of the anterior cingulate cortex. Decreased electrodermal activity in the ADHD group also suggested a motivational insensitivity to performance errors. Our data provide evidence that neuropsychological deficits associated with ADHD can be exacerbated by error processing abnormalities. Error awareness may represent an important cognitive and physiological phenotype for ADHD.

Self-Alert Training: volitional modulation of autonomic arousal improves sustained attention.

The present study examines a new alertness training strategy (Self-Alert Training, SAT) designed to explore the relationship between the top-down control processes governing arousal and sustained attention. In order to maximally target frontal control systems SAT combines a previously validated behavioural self-alerting technique [Robertson, I. H., Tegner, R., Tham, K., Lo, A., & Nimmo-Smith, I. (1995). Sustained attention training for unilateral neglect: Theoretical and rehabilitation implications. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 17, 416-430] with an autonomic arousal biofeedback protocol in which participants learn to modulate their own arousal levels. The SAT protocol was first validated with a group of 23 neurologically healthy participants and then independently tested in a group of 18 adults with ADHD to determine its clinical utility. Half of the participants in each group were assigned to a placebo condition to control for non-specific effects. All participants performed the sustained attention to response task (SART) during pre- and post-training testing sessions to assess training effects on sustained attention. By the end of SAT all participants were able to modulate their own arousal levels without external prompting. Comparison of pre- and post-training baseline data indicated that, as predicted, SAT was associated with increased levels of autonomic arousal accompanied by improved accuracy on the SART. In contrast, participants in the placebo condition exhibited a gradual reduction in arousal over time and increased reaction time variability indicative of a vigilance decrement. These data demonstrate that the recruitment of top-down control processes during volitional modulation of arousal leads to improved sustained attention. These findings have important implications for the rehabilitation of attention deficits arising from frontal dysfunction.

Neuropsychology of self-awareness in young adults.

Disorders of self-awareness are common following cortical damage, particularly to the frontal lobes, but there have been few studies of individual differences in self-awareness in the normal population. In the current study, we explored patterns of metacognitive awareness among healthy young adults, based on discrepancies of self- and other-ratings on the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale (FrSBe; Grace and Malloy, 2002). Those who showed poor metacognitive awareness showed more frequent lapses of attention, and higher levels of everyday absentmindedness, than those who accurately appraised their own behavior or those who overestimated their own FrSBe scores. Furthermore, among those with poor metacognitive awareness, online emergent awareness correlated positively with prospective memory performance, and negatively with anxiety scores. Our results suggest that accurate self-awareness in non-neurological participants relies on efficient sustained attention functioning, supporting the role of frontal control systems in neuroanatomical models of self-awareness.

Coupling of respiration and attention via the locus coeruleus: Effects of meditation and pranayama.

The locus coeruleus (LC) has established functions in both attention and respiration. Good attentional performance requires optimal levels of tonic LC activity, and must be matched to task consistently. LC neurons are chemosensitive, causing respiratory phrenic nerve firing to increase frequency with higher CO2 levels, and as CO2 level varies with the phase of respiration, tonic LC activity should exhibit fluctuations at respiratory frequency. Top-down modulation of tonic LC activity from brain areas involved in attentional regulation, intended to optimize LC firing to suit task requirements, may have respiratory consequences as well, as increases in LC activity influence phrenic nerve firing. We hypothesize that, due to the physiological and functional overlaps of attentional and respiratory functions of the LC, this small neuromodulatory nucleus is ideally situated to act as a mechanism of synchronization between respiratory and attentional systems, giving rise to a low-amplitude oscillation that enables attentional flexibility, but may also contribute to unintended destabilization of attention. Meditative and pranayama practices result in attentional, emotional, and physiological enhancements that may be partially due to the LC's pivotal role as the nexus in this coupled system. We present original findings of synchronization between respiration and LC activity (via fMRI and pupil dilation) and provide evidence of a relationship between respiratory phase modulation and attentional performance. We also present a mathematical dynamical systems model of respiratory-LC-attentional coupling, review candidate neurophysiological mechanisms of changes in coupling dynamics, and discuss implications for attentional theory, meditation, and pranayama, and possible therapeutic applications.