The role of parietal cortex during sustained visual spatial attention

The control of spatial attention–shifting attention between visual field locations or sustaining attention to one location–involves the prefrontal cortex and parietal cortex. Within the parietal cortex, shifting attention has been linked to the superior parietal lobule; however, the neural substrates associated with sustained attention are still unknown. In the present fMRI study, we aimed to identify generalized control regions associated with sustained attention using two different protocols. The motion protocol alternated between periods of moving or stationary dots, and the flicker protocol alternated between periods of flickering or stationary checkerboards (each period lasted 14 s). During moving and flickering periods, the behavioral task alternated between sustained attention and perception. A region-of-interest analysis confirmed that the motion but not flicker protocol produced attention effects–greater activity associated with sustained attention than perception–in motion processing region MT+. A whole brain conjunction analysis identified regions commonly associated with sustained attention for both protocols, which included the right intraparietal sulcus (BA 7/40), the right middle frontal gyrus (BA 9/46), the right superior temporal gyrus (BA 22), the right insula (BA 13), and the left cerebellum. Coupled with previous results, the present findings suggest a functional–anatomic organization of parietal cortex where shifts in attention are mediated by superior regions and sustained attention is mediated by more lateral regions.