Oxyopia Abstract

June 23, 2009
CANCELLED
489 Minor Hall

Christiane Thiel, PhD
Professor of Cognitive Neurobiology, Institute of Biology and Environmental Science, Carl von Ossietzky University, Oldenburg, Germany
Host: Michael Silver

Title

Cholinergic modulation of visuospatial attention in the human brain

Abstract

In recent years the rapidly growing use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in conjunction with psychopharmacology has increased our knowledge about brain mechanisms underlying the neurochemical modulation of cognitive function. The talk will deal with the role of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine in visuospatial attention. In a series of pharmacological fMRI studies in healthy volunteers, we were able to demonstrate that the cholinergic agonist nicotine reduces the time needed for reorienting visuospatial attention. This was accompanied by a reduction of BOLD contrast associated with reorienting of attention in the posterior parietal cortex. Further studies showed that the effect was not due to alterations of perceptual processes and underlies intra- and interindividual variability. Studies in patients with hemispatial neglect suggest that the right temporoparietal cortex is necessary for the beneficial effects of nicotine. Finally I will present recent data on the role of genetic differences in the cholinergic receptor gene CHRNA4 on attentional reorienting and attention-related brain activity.

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