Abstract
Here, we update our 1990 Annual Review of Neuroscience article, “The Attention System of the Human Brain.” The framework presented in the original article has helped to integrate behavioral, systems, cellular, and molecular approaches to common problems in attention research. Our framework has been both elaborated and expanded in subsequent years. Research on orienting and executive functions has supported the addition of new networks of brain regions. Developmental studies have shown important changes in control systems between infancy and childhood. In some cases, evidence has supported the role of specific genetic variations, often in conjunction with experience, that account for some of the individual differences in the efficiency of attentional networks. The findings have led to increased understanding of aspects of pathology and to some new interventions.
INTRODUCTION
Twenty years ago, when neuroimaging was in its infancy, we summarized the current state of knowledge on attention in the 1990 volume of the Annual Review of Neuroscience (Posner & Petersen 1990). At that time, most available evidence was from behavioral studies of normal adults or patients with varying forms of brain injury. However, the ability to image brain activity with positron emission tomography seemed to hold great promise for the physiological analysis of mental processes, including attention. In our review, we were able to integrate findings of the initial imaging studies. We never imagined that the growth of cognitive neuroscience over the subsequent 20 years would make it possible to revisit our analysis, with 4,000–6,000 imaging papers on attention or cognitive control and nearly 3,500 citations of our original review.
FUTURE
It has been exciting for us to see the expansion of work on networks of attention over the past 20 years. We now have the opportunity to go from genes to cells, networks, and behavior and to examine how these relationships change from infancy to old age. In development, the number of active control systems increases and their influence changes.
Although much has been learned, many questions remain unanswered. We are hopeful that the study of attention will continue to provide greater understanding of how control develops typically and in pathology (Posner 2012a, Posner et al. 2011) and will provide promising leads for translating basic research into interventions to aid children and families.
