Editing Attention (section)

===Neural correlates===
Most experiments show that one [[neural correlate]] of attention is enhanced firing. If a neuron has a different response to a stimulus when an animal is not attending to a stimulus, versus when the animal does attend to the stimulus, then the neuron's response will be enhanced even if the physical characteristics of the stimulus remain the same.

In a 2007 review, Professor Eric Knudsen<ref name="Knudsen">{{cite journal | vauthors = Knudsen EI | title = Fundamental components of attention | journal = Annual Review of Neuroscience | volume = 30 | issue = 1 | pages = 57–78 | year = 2007 | pmid = 17417935 | doi = 10.1146/annurev.neuro.30.051606.094256 | s2cid = 9875095 }}</ref> describes a more general [[Conceptual model|model]] which identifies four core processes of attention, with [[working memory]] at the center:
* [[Working memory]] temporarily stores information for detailed analysis.
* Competitive selection is the process that determines which information gains access to working memory.
* Through top-down sensitivity control, higher cognitive processes can regulate signal intensity in information channels that compete for access to working memory, and thus give them an advantage in the process of competitive selection. Through top-down sensitivity control, the momentary content of working memory can influence the selection of new information, and thus mediate voluntary control of attention in a recurrent loop (endogenous attention).<ref name="Pattyn">{{cite journal | vauthors = Pattyn N, Neyt X, Henderickx D, Soetens E | title = Psychophysiological investigation of vigilance decrement: boredom or cognitive fatigue? | journal = Physiology & Behavior | volume = 93 | issue = 1–2 | pages = 369–78 | date = January 2008 | pmid = 17999934 | doi = 10.1016/j.physbeh.2007.09.016 | s2cid = 9861215 }}</ref>
* Bottom-up saliency filters automatically enhance the response to infrequent stimuli, or stimuli of instinctive or learned biological relevance (exogenous attention).<ref name="Pattyn"/>

Neurally, at different hierarchical levels spatial maps can enhance or inhibit activity in sensory areas, and induce orienting behaviors like eye movement.
* At the top of the hierarchy, the [[frontal eye fields]] (FEF) and the [[dorsolateral prefrontal cortex]] contain a retinocentric spatial map. [[Microstimulation]] in the FEF induces monkeys to make a [[saccade]] to the relevant location. Stimulation at levels too low to induce a saccade will nonetheless enhance cortical responses to stimuli located in the relevant area.
* At the next lower level, a variety of spatial maps are found in the [[parietal cortex]]. In particular, the lateral intraparietal area (LIP) contains a [[saliency map]] and is interconnected both with the FEF and with sensory areas.
*Exogenous attentional guidance in humans and monkeys is by a bottom-up saliency map in the [http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Area_V1 primary visual cortex].<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" />  In lower [[vertebrate]]s, this saliency map is more likely in the [[superior colliculus]] (optic tectum).<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Zhaoping L | title = From the optic tectum to the primary visual cortex: migration through evolution of the saliency map for exogenous attentional guidance | journal = Current Opinion in Neurobiology | volume = 40 | pages = 94–102 | date = October 2016 | pmid = 27420378 | doi = 10.1016/j.conb.2016.06.017 | s2cid = 206952820 | url = https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1503732/ }}</ref>
* Certain automatic responses that influence attention, like orienting to a highly salient stimulus, are mediated subcortically by the [[superior colliculi]].
* At the neural network level, it is thought that processes like [[lateral inhibition]] mediate the process of competitive selection.

In many cases attention produces changes in the [[EEG]]. Many animals, including humans, produce [[gamma wave]]s (40–60&nbsp;Hz) when focusing attention on a particular object or activity.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kaiser J, Lutzenberger W | title = Induced gamma-band activity and human brain function | journal = The Neuroscientist | volume = 9 | issue = 6 | pages = 475–84 | date = December 2003 | pmid = 14678580 | doi = 10.1177/1073858403259137 | s2cid = 23574844 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Siegel M, Donner TH, Oostenveld R, Fries P, Engel AK | title = Neuronal synchronization along the dorsal visual pathway reflects the focus of spatial attention | journal = Neuron | volume = 60 | issue = 4 | pages = 709–19 | date = November 2008 | pmid = 19038226 | doi = 10.1016/j.neuron.2008.09.010 | s2cid = 19010227 | doi-access = free | hdl = 2066/71012 | hdl-access = free }}</ref><ref name="ReferenceB"/><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Baldauf D, Desimone R | title = Neural mechanisms of object-based attention | journal = Science | volume = 344 | issue = 6182 | pages = 424–7 | date = April 2014 | pmid = 24763592 | doi = 10.1126/science.1247003 | bibcode = 2014Sci...344..424B | s2cid = 34728448 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

Another commonly used model for the attention system has been put forth by researchers such as [[Michael Posner (psychologist)|Michael Posner]]. He divides attention into three functional components: alerting, orienting, and [[Executive system|executive attention]]<ref name="Posner"/><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Posner MI, Boies SJ |title=Components of attention|journal=Psychological Review |volume=78 |issue=5 |pages=391–408 |year=1971 |doi=10.1037/h0031333 }}</ref> that can also interact and influence each other.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Trautwein FM, Singer T, Kanske P | title = Stimulus-Driven Reorienting Impairs Executive Control of Attention: Evidence for a Common Bottleneck in Anterior Insula | journal = Cerebral Cortex | volume = 26 | issue = 11 | pages = 4136–4147 | date = August 2016 | pmid = 27550866 | pmc = 5066828 | doi = 10.1093/cercor/bhw225 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Fan J, Gu X, Guise KG, Liu X, Fossella J, Wang H, Posner MI | title = Testing the behavioral interaction and integration of attentional networks | journal = Brain and Cognition | volume = 70 | issue = 2 | pages = 209–20 | date = July 2009 | pmid = 19269079 | pmc = 2674119 | doi = 10.1016/j.bandc.2009.02.002 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Callejas A, Lupiáñez J, Tudela P | title = The three attentional networks: on their independence and interactions | journal = Brain and Cognition | volume = 54 | issue = 3 | pages = 225–7 | date = April 2004 | pmid = 15050779 | doi = 10.1016/j.bandc.2004.02.012 | s2cid = 775862 }}</ref>
* Alerting is the process involved in becoming and staying attentive toward the surroundings. It appears to exist in the [[Frontal lobe|frontal]] and [[Parietal lobe|parietal]] lobes of the [[right hemisphere]], and is modulated by [[norepinephrine]].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Coull JT, Frith CD, Frackowiak RS, Grasby PM | title = A fronto-parietal network for rapid visual information processing: a PET study of sustained attention and working memory | journal = Neuropsychologia | volume = 34 | issue = 11 | pages = 1085–95 | date = November 1996 | pmid = 8904746 | doi = 10.1016/0028-3932(96)00029-2 | s2cid = 25430660 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Marrocco RT, Witte EA, Davidson MC | title = Arousal systems | journal = Current Opinion in Neurobiology | volume = 4 | issue = 2 | pages = 166–70 | date = April 1994 | pmid = 7913640 | doi = 10.1016/0959-4388(94)90067-1 | s2cid = 35709525 }}</ref>
* Orienting is the directing of attention to a specific stimulus.
* Executive attention is used when there is a conflict between multiple attention cues. It is essentially the same as the [[Baddeley's model of working memory#Central executive|central executive]] in [[Baddeley's model of working memory]]. The [[Eriksen flanker task]] has shown that the executive control of attention may take place in the [[anterior cingulate cortex]]<ref>{{cite web | vauthors = Fan J, McCandliss BD, Flombaum JI, Thomas KM, Posner MI | date = 2001 | url = https://cognet.mit.edu/library/conferences/paper?paper_id=53066 | title = Comparing images of conflict in frontal cortex | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150110125228/https://cognet.mit.edu/library/conferences/paper?paper_id=53066 |archive-date=2015-01-10 | work =  Annual meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society | location = New York, NY }}</ref>