Shared subcortical arousal systems across sensory modalities during transient modulation of attention

Subcortical arousal systems are known to play a key role in controlling sustained changes in attention and conscious awareness. Recent studies indicate that these systems have a major influence on short-term dynamic modulation of visual attention, but their role across sensory modalities is not full...

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Main Authors: Aya Khalaf, Erick Lopez, Jian Li, Andreas Horn, Brian L. Edlow, Hal Blumenfeld
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-05-01
Series:NeuroImage
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811925002277
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author Aya Khalaf
Erick Lopez
Jian Li
Andreas Horn
Brian L. Edlow
Hal Blumenfeld
author_facet Aya Khalaf
Erick Lopez
Jian Li
Andreas Horn
Brian L. Edlow
Hal Blumenfeld
author_sort Aya Khalaf
collection DOAJ
description Subcortical arousal systems are known to play a key role in controlling sustained changes in attention and conscious awareness. Recent studies indicate that these systems have a major influence on short-term dynamic modulation of visual attention, but their role across sensory modalities is not fully understood. In this study, we investigated shared subcortical arousal systems across sensory modalities during transient changes in attention using block and event-related fMRI paradigms. We analyzed massive publicly available fMRI datasets collected while 1561 participants performed visual, auditory, tactile, and taste perception tasks. Our analyses revealed a shared circuit of subcortical arousal systems exhibiting early transient increases in activity in midbrain reticular formation and central thalamus across perceptual modalities, as well as less consistent increases in pons, hypothalamus, basal forebrain, and basal ganglia. Identifying these networks is critical for understanding mechanisms of normal attention and consciousness and may help facilitate subcortical targeting for therapeutic neuromodulation.
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spelling doaj-art-4efd2b79c44548338d2d6277fe917cff2025-08-20T02:15:58ZengElsevierNeuroImage1095-95722025-05-0131212122410.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121224Shared subcortical arousal systems across sensory modalities during transient modulation of attentionAya Khalaf0Erick Lopez1Jian Li2Andreas Horn3Brian L. Edlow4Hal Blumenfeld5Department of Neurology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USADepartment of Neurology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USADepartment of Neurology, Center for Neurotechnology and Neurorecovery, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USADepartment of Neurology, Center for Neurotechnology and Neurorecovery, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Neurology, Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics, Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Movement Disorders & Neuromodulation Section, Department of Neurology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, GermanyDepartment of Neurology, Center for Neurotechnology and Neurorecovery, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USADepartment of Neurology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Neurosurgery, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA; Corresponding author at: Yale Depts. Neurology, Neuroscience, Neurosurgery 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06520-8018, USASubcortical arousal systems are known to play a key role in controlling sustained changes in attention and conscious awareness. Recent studies indicate that these systems have a major influence on short-term dynamic modulation of visual attention, but their role across sensory modalities is not fully understood. In this study, we investigated shared subcortical arousal systems across sensory modalities during transient changes in attention using block and event-related fMRI paradigms. We analyzed massive publicly available fMRI datasets collected while 1561 participants performed visual, auditory, tactile, and taste perception tasks. Our analyses revealed a shared circuit of subcortical arousal systems exhibiting early transient increases in activity in midbrain reticular formation and central thalamus across perceptual modalities, as well as less consistent increases in pons, hypothalamus, basal forebrain, and basal ganglia. Identifying these networks is critical for understanding mechanisms of normal attention and consciousness and may help facilitate subcortical targeting for therapeutic neuromodulation.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811925002277Attention modulationArousalConsciousnessSubcortical networksfMRI
spellingShingle Aya Khalaf
Erick Lopez
Jian Li
Andreas Horn
Brian L. Edlow
Hal Blumenfeld
Shared subcortical arousal systems across sensory modalities during transient modulation of attention
NeuroImage
Attention modulation
Arousal
Consciousness
Subcortical networks
fMRI
title Shared subcortical arousal systems across sensory modalities during transient modulation of attention
title_full Shared subcortical arousal systems across sensory modalities during transient modulation of attention
title_fullStr Shared subcortical arousal systems across sensory modalities during transient modulation of attention
title_full_unstemmed Shared subcortical arousal systems across sensory modalities during transient modulation of attention
title_short Shared subcortical arousal systems across sensory modalities during transient modulation of attention
title_sort shared subcortical arousal systems across sensory modalities during transient modulation of attention
topic Attention modulation
Arousal
Consciousness
Subcortical networks
fMRI
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811925002277
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