The Attentive Brain

Of the myriad tasks that the brain has to perform, perhaps none is as crucial to theperformance of other tasks as attention. A central thesis of this book on the cognitive neuroscienceof attention is that attention is not a single entity, but a finite set of brain processes thatinteract mutually and with other brain processes in the performance of perceptual, cognitive, andmotor skills.After an introductory part I, the book consists of three parts. Part II, Methods,describes the major neuroscience methods, including techniques used only with animals (anatomicaltract tracing, single-unit electrophysiology, neurochemical manipulations), noninvasive humanbrain-imaging techniques (ERPs, positron emission tomography, and functional magnetic resonanceimaging), and studies with brain-damaged individuals. This part also includes a chapter on thecomputational modeling of attention. Part III, Varieties of Attention, looks at three majorcomponents of attention from the cognitive neuroscience perspective: selection, vigilance, andcontrol. It also discusses links to memory and language. Finally, part IV, Development andPathologies, discusses the application of findings from the previous sections to the analysis ofnormal and abnormal development and to pathologies of attention such as schizophrenia and attentiondeficit disorders.Contributors : Edward Awh, Gordon C. Baylis, Jochen Braun, Dennis Cantwell,Vincent P. Clark, Maurizio Corbetta, Susan M. Courtney, Francis Crinella, Matthew C. Davidson,Gregory J. DiGirolamo, Jon Driver, Jane Emerson, Pauline Filipek, Ira Fischler, Massimo Girelli,Pamela M. Greenwood, James V. Haxby, Mark H. Johnson, John Jonides, Julian S. Joseph, Robert T.Knight, Christof Koch, Steven J. Luck, Richard T. Marrocco, Brad C. Motter, Ken Nakayama, OrhanNalcioglu, Paul G. Nestor, Ernst Niebur, Brian F. O'Donnell, Raja Parasuraman, Michael I. Posner,Robert D. Rafal, Trevor W. Robbins, Lynn C. Robertson, Judi E. See, James Swanson, Diane Swick, DonTucker, Leslie G. Ungerleider, Joel S. Warm, Maree J. Webster, Sharon Wigal.