感覚を結びつける脳の深部領域を発見(Study reveals a deep brain region that links the senses)

2025-05-15 イェール大学

<関連情報>

• https://news.yale.edu/2025/05/15/study-reveals-deep-brain-region-links-senses
• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811925002277

注意の一時的な調節中に感覚様式間で共有される皮質下覚醒システム Shared subcortical arousal systems across sensory modalities during transient modulation of attention

Aya Khalaf, Erick Lopez, Jian Li, Andreas Horn, Brian L. Edlow, Hal Blumenfeld
NeuroImage  Available online: 16 April 2025
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121224

Highlights

• We investigated subcortical arousal systems during transient shifts in attention.
• Massive fMRI datasets covering four sensory modalities were analyzed.
• We observed early transient signals in midbrain reticular formation and central thalamus.
• Pons, hypothalamus, basal forebrain and basal ganglia show less consistent activity.
• Cortical and subcortical modality-specific activity was also observed.

Abstract

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.