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Catecholaminergic neuromodulation and selective attention jointly shape perceptual decision making

View ORCID ProfileS.A. Nuiten, View ORCID ProfileJ.W. De Gee, View ORCID ProfileJ.J. Fahrenfort, View ORCID ProfileS. van Gaal
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.11.03.515022
S.A. Nuiten
aDepartment of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NLD
bAmsterdam Brain & Cognition, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NLD
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  • For correspondence: stijnnuiten@gmail.com
J.W. De Gee
bAmsterdam Brain & Cognition, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NLD
cDepartment of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, USA
dJan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute, Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, USA
eCognitive and Systems Neuroscience, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NLD
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J.J. Fahrenfort
aDepartment of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NLD
bAmsterdam Brain & Cognition, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NLD
fInstitute for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NLD
gDepartment of Experimental and Applied Psychology - Cognitive Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NLD
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S. van Gaal
aDepartment of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NLD
bAmsterdam Brain & Cognition, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NLD
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  • For correspondence: stijnnuiten@gmail.com
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Abstract

Perception of sensory input is influenced by fluctuations in ongoing neural activity, most prominently driven by attention and neuromodulator systems. It is currently unknown if neuromodulator activity and attention differentially modulate neural activity and perception or whether neuromodulatory systems in fact control attentional processes. We pharmacologically enhanced cholinergic (through donepezil) and catecholaminergic (through atomoxetine) levels in humans performing a visual attention task to investigate the effects of neuromodulatory drive and spatial attention on neural activity and behavior. Attention and catecholaminergic enhancement both improved perceptual sensitivity by increasing the rate of evidence accumulation towards a decision threshold (cholinergic effects were negligible). Electroencephalographic recordings revealed that attention and catecholaminergic enhancement both modulated pre-stimulus cortical excitability, evoked sensory processes and parietal evidence accumulation. Crucially however, the spatial profile and timing of these effects were remarkably different. This suggests that selective attention and neuromodulatory systems shape perception largely independently and in qualitatively different ways.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Footnotes

  • Funding This research was supported by an ERC starting grant from the H2020 European Research Council (ERC STG 715605 to S.v.G).

Copyright 
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 4.0 International license.
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Posted November 03, 2022.
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Catecholaminergic neuromodulation and selective attention jointly shape perceptual decision making
S.A. Nuiten, J.W. De Gee, J.J. Fahrenfort, S. van Gaal
bioRxiv 2022.11.03.515022; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.11.03.515022
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Catecholaminergic neuromodulation and selective attention jointly shape perceptual decision making
S.A. Nuiten, J.W. De Gee, J.J. Fahrenfort, S. van Gaal
bioRxiv 2022.11.03.515022; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.11.03.515022

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