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Two dominant brain states reflect optimal and suboptimal attention

View ORCID ProfileAyumu Yamashita, David Rothlein, Aaron Kucyi, Eve M. Valera, Michael Esterman
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.01.31.928523
Ayumu Yamashita
Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Massachusetts, United StatesBoston Attention and Learning Laboratory, VA Boston Healthcare System, Massachusetts, United States
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  • For correspondence: ayumu@atr.jp
David Rothlein
Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Massachusetts, United StatesBoston Attention and Learning Laboratory, VA Boston Healthcare System, Massachusetts, United States
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Aaron Kucyi
Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Massachusetts, United States
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Eve M. Valera
Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts, United States
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Michael Esterman
Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Massachusetts, United StatesBoston Attention and Learning Laboratory, VA Boston Healthcare System, Massachusetts, United StatesNational Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System, Massachusetts, United States
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Abstract

Attention is not constant but fluctuates from moment to moment. Previous studies dichotomized these fluctuations into optimal and suboptimal states based on behavioral performance and investigated the difference in brain activity between these states. Although these studies implicitly assume there are two states, this assumption is not guaranteed. Here, we reversed the logic of these previous studies and identified unique states of brain activity during a sustained attention task. We demonstrate a systematic relationship between dynamic brain activity patterns (brain states) and behavioral underpinnings of sustained attention by explaining behavior from two dominantly observed brain states. In four independent datasets, a brain state characterized by default mode network activity was behaviorally optimal and a brain state characterized by dorsal attention network activity was suboptimal. Thus, our study provides compelling evidence for behaviorally optimal and suboptimal attentional states from the sole viewpoint of brain activity. We further demonstrated how these brain states were impacted by motivation, mind wandering, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Within-subject level modulators (motivation and mind wandering) impacted the optimality of behavior in the suboptimal brain state. In contrast, between-subject level differences (ADHD vs healthy controls) impacted the optimal brain state character, namely its frequency.

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted January 31, 2020.
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Two dominant brain states reflect optimal and suboptimal attention
Ayumu Yamashita, David Rothlein, Aaron Kucyi, Eve M. Valera, Michael Esterman
bioRxiv 2020.01.31.928523; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.01.31.928523
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Two dominant brain states reflect optimal and suboptimal attention
Ayumu Yamashita, David Rothlein, Aaron Kucyi, Eve M. Valera, Michael Esterman
bioRxiv 2020.01.31.928523; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.01.31.928523

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