All parts of the brain › Networks › Dorsal attention network

Where is the dorsal attention network?

High on the outer side of the frontal and parietal lobes, in both hemispheres: its core is the frontal eye fields, at the back of the middle frontal gyrus, and the intraparietal sulcus below the superior parietal lobule, with the motion area MT toward the back of the brain as a likely member. [1][2]

Honest limit: networks are defined from brain imaging, and this atlas lights whole gyri, not the network’s exact borders. [3]

The 3D brain needs JavaScript. The list of parts still says what each one does for the dorsal attention network.

Lit: whole parts; region borders not drawn.

Slice

All 3 parts are lit together. Drag to turn, pinch or scroll to zoom, tap a part on the brain or a name in the list to focus it; .

Frontal eye fields is a region on the middle frontal gyrus, not a separate shape. The 3D model has no shape for it, so the whole middle frontal gyrus is lit; the region’s exact border is not drawn.

Intraparietal sulcus is a region on the superior parietal lobule, not a separate shape. The 3D model has no shape for it, so the whole superior parietal lobule is lit; the region’s exact border is not drawn.

Area MT is a region on the occipital lobe, not a separate shape. The 3D model has no shape for it, so the whole occipital lobe is lit; the region’s exact border is not drawn.

Dorsal attention network: 3 parts lit

Middle frontal gyrus, superior parietal lobule and occipital lobe. Tap one to see where it is and what it does.

The parts and their roles

Its back end, where it meets the precentral gyrus, holds the frontal eye fields, one of the network’s two core regions in each hemisphere; they start voluntary eye movements and help steer visual attention. [1][2] Where is the middle frontal gyrus?
Its lower edge is the intraparietal sulcus, the network’s other core region, activated when attention is oriented on purpose; the superior parietal lobule itself is among the regions the network may include. [1][4] Where is the superior parietal lobule?
Holds Brodmann area 19, extrastriate visual cortex reputed to contain the middle temporal area (MT, V5), which the network may include; MT is thought to play a major role in perceiving motion. [1][5][6] Where is the occipital lobe?

Named areas on the lit gyri

Frontal eye fields, on the : an area around where the back of the middle frontal gyrus meets the precentral gyrus, in Brodmann area 8; the network’s frontal core. [2][1]
Intraparietal sulcus, on the : the groove on the outer parietal lobe with the superior parietal lobule above it and the inferior parietal lobule below; the network includes it in each hemisphere. [4][7]
Area MT, on the : the middle temporal area, also called V5: a small patch of extrastriate visual cortex, counted within Brodmann area 19, thought to play a major role in perceiving motion. [6][5]

How they work together

It is most involved in goal-directed, voluntary control of visuospatial attention: deciding on purpose where to look and what to attend to. Within it, the intraparietal sulcus and the frontal eye fields influence the visual areas of the brain. [1][3]
It works with the ventral attention network, which responds when something relevant appears unexpectedly; their interaction lets attention follow both goals and sudden stimuli, and the inferior frontal junction is thought to configure it. [1][8]
Corbetta and colleagues first defined and named it in the early-to-mid 2000s. It was sometimes called the task-positive network, set against the default mode network, a split now considered misleading because the default mode network can be active in some tasks. [1]
Its edges are uncertain: other regions may include the supplementary eye field and ventral premotor cortex, more recent work suggests the cerebellum may take part, and the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and superior colliculus are less studied. Evidence that the whole network serves hearing attention has been questioned. [1]

One of the central executive network’s two subsystems couples with this network for attending to what you perceive. [9] Where is the central executive network?

The default mode network is the one it was once set against as the “task-negative” side. [1][10] Where is the default mode network?

Sources

Facts describe anatomy and normal function only. A part lit here takes part in the dorsal attention network; it does not do it alone, and it does other jobs too. The 3D model is the adult male BodyParts3D brain (credits and licence); on it the brainstem includes the midbrain, pons and medulla, so lighting the brainstem lights all three.