FUNCTIONAL NEUROIMAGING OF ATTENTION IN THE AUDITORY MODALITY

PREVIOUS functional neuroimaging studies of attention have emphasized the visual modality. We developed an auditory version of the continuou s performance test (CPT) that included simple, focused and divided att ention conditions. Positron emission tomographic (PET) scans were acqu ired during CPT performance in normal young adults and then submitted to statistical parametric mapping. Simple attention brought about a la rge region of activation involving the anterior cingulate gyrus and th e right anterior/mesial frontal lobe. Focused and divided attention CP T conditions were compared but there were few significant differences. The findings are consistent with activation of an anterior attention network during auditory attention, without involvement of posterior at tention structures which are more likely to vary in accordance with se nsory modality.