Elsevier

Neuropsychologia

Volume 34, Issue 9, September 1996, Pages 927-935
Neuropsychologia

Further evidence that the callosum is involved in sustaining attention

https://doi.org/10.1016/0028-3932(96)00009-7Get rights and content

Abstract

This study is a follow-up to a previous study that found a correlation between callosal efficiency and sustained attention. Normal children were tested on a vigilance task in which the amount of time between target presentations (interstimulus interval; ISI) was varied. Efficiency of the anterior callosum was assessed by a task that required subjects to perform incongruent movements with the left and right hands simultaneously. Subjects who showed less interference between the two hands missed fewer signals on the vigilance task after the longer ISIs, suggesting callosal involvement in the ability to sustain attention over a long period of time in the absence of sensory input. Age differences in sustained attention were also observed.

References (68)

  • K. Quinn et al.

    The development of tactile transfer of information

    Neuropsychologia

    (1986)
  • L.M. Rueckert et al.

    Callosal efficiency is related to sustained attention

    Neuropsychologia

    (1994)
  • A.J. Wilkins et al.

    Frontal lesions and sustained attention

    Neuropsychologia

    (1987)
  • D. Zaidel et al.

    Some long-term motor effects of cerebral commissurotomy in man

    Neuropsychologia

    (1977)
  • T.R. Bashore

    Vocal and manual reaction time estimates of interhemispheric transmission time

    Psychological Bulletin

    (1981)
  • I.L. Beale et al.

    Performance of disabled and normal readers on the continuous performance test

    Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology

    (1987)
  • C.M.J. Braun

    Estimation of interhemispheric dynamics from simple unimanual reaction time to extrafoveal stimuli

    Neuropsychological Review

    (1992)
  • C. Brinkman

    Supplementary motor area of the monkey's cerebral cortex: Short- and long-term deficits after unilateral ablation and the effects of subsequent callosal section

    Journal of Neuroscience

    (1984)
  • S.R. Butler

    Interhemispheric transfer of visual information via the corpus callosum and anterior commissure in the monkey

  • R.M. Cohen et al.

    Functional localization of sustained attention: Comparison to sensory stimulation in the absence of instruction

    Neuropsychiatry, Neuropsychology and Behavioural Neurology

    (1988)
  • K. Connolly et al.

    Developmental changes in associated movements

    Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology

    (1968)
  • A. Craig et al.

    Diurnal variation, task characteristics, and vigilance performance

    Human Factors

    (1987)
  • M.C. DeLacoste et al.

    Topography of the human corpus callosum

    Journal of Neuropathology and experimental Neurology

    (1985)
  • M.B. Denckla

    Motor coordination in dyslexic children: Theoretical and clinical implications

  • M.B. Denckla et al.

    Anomalies of motor development in hyperactive boys

    Annals of Neurology

    (1978)
  • G. Deutsch et al.

    Cerebral blood flow evidence of right frontal activation in attention demanding tasks

    International Journal of Neurosciences

    (1987)
  • S.J. Dimond

    Depletion of attentional capacity after total commissurotomy in man

    Brain

    (1976)
  • S.J. Dimond

    Tactual and auditory vigilance in splitbrain man

    Journal of Neurological and Neurosurgical Psychiatry

    (1979)
  • E. Fog et al.

    Cerebral inhibition examined by associated movements

  • J.M. Fuster

    Behavioral electrophysiology of the prefrontal cortex

    Trends in Neurosciences

    (1984)
  • D. Galin et al.

    Development of the capacity for tactile information transfer between hemispheres in normal children

    Science

    (1979)
  • M.S. Gazzaniga

    Partial commissurotomy and cerebral localization of function

  • J.N. Giedd et al.

    Quantitative morphology of the corpus callosum in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

    American Journal of Psychiatry

    (1994)
  • G. Goldberg

    Supplementary motor area structure and function: Review and hypotheses

    Behavioural Brain Sciences

    (1985)
  • Cited by (33)

    • Cingulum-Callosal white-matter microstructure associated with emotional dysregulation in children: A diffusion tensor imaging study

      2020, NeuroImage: Clinical
      Citation Excerpt :

      The cingulum bundle primarily receives neuronal inputs from the cingulate cortex (Catani and Thiebaut de Schotten, 2012), the brain region implicated in the regulation of cognitive and emotional control processes that is altered in mood disorders (Bush et al., 2000; Giuliani et al., 2011; Versace et al., 2015; Wessa and Linke, 2009). The callosal fibers connect the two hemispheres and extend into sensorimotor regions (via the corona radiata) and are involved in sensorimotor coordination and maintaining balance of arousal and attentional vigilance (Rueckert and Levy, 1996; Rueckert et al., 1999; Sauerwein and Lassonde, 1994). The broad-range connections of cingulum and callosal pathways support the multi-faceted nature of the clinical phenotype of ED operationalized via empirically-derived CBCL-ED, including components of the Attention, Aggression, and Anxiety/Depression dimensions.

    • Microstructural abnormalities in anterior callosal fibers and their relationship with cognitive function in major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder: A tract-specific analysis study

      2015, Journal of Affective Disorders
      Citation Excerpt :

      Zahr et al. (2009) showed a correlation between working memory performance and the FA in the genu of the CC in healthy subjects including more elderly subjects than that in our study, and Takeuchi et al. (2010) demonstrated a correlation between the amount of working memory training and increased FA in the anterior CC. In regards to attention, a recent review of functional MRI studies reported an association between performance of symbol coding and increased brain activity in the frontal and parietal regions (Forn et al., 2009), and Rueckert and Levy (1996) suggested an important involvement of the anterior CC in sustain attention because it contains fibers connecting the bilateral frontal cortices. Together with the results of these previous studies, our results of a significant correlation of FA reductions in the anterior callosal fibers with low performance of digit sequencing task and symbol coding in the MDD group suggest that the microstructural abnormalities in the anterior callosal fibers associate with impairment of working memory and attention in MDD.

    • Selective modulations of attentional asymmetries after sleep deprivation

      2011, Neuropsychologia
      Citation Excerpt :

      Difficulties to maintain attention over a prolonged period of time are also evidenced in cases of right parietal lesions (Malhotra, Coulthard, & Husain, 2009) and callosotomy (Dimond, 1976, 1979b; Ellenberg & Sperry, 1979), especially when the RH is required (Dimond, 1979a; Dimond & Beaumont, 1972, 1973). Furthermore, vigilance decrements are associated with callosal transfer efficiency levels (Rueckert, Baboorian, Stavropoulos, & Yasutake, 1999; Rueckert & Levy, 1996; Rueckert, Sorensen, & Levy, 1994). Overall, these data suggest that both the integrity of the RH alerting network and a good interhemispheric coordination are required to maintain optimal levels of vigilance.

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text