Motor dexterity and strength depend upon integrity of the attention-control system.

Attention control (or executive control) is a higher cognitive function involved in response selection and inhibition, through close interactions with the motor system. Here, we tested whether influences of attention control are also seen on lower level motor functions of dexterity and strength-by examining relationships between attention control and motor performance in healthy-aged and hemiparetic-stroke subjects ( = 93 and 167, respectively). Subjects undertook simple-tracking, precision-hold, and maximum force-generation tasks, with each hand.

Triple dissociation of attention networks in stroke according to lesion location.

Objective: To determine whether behavioral dissociations and interactions occur between the attentional functions-alerting, orienting, and conflict resolution-depending upon stroke location and to determine the approximate proportion of patients who can be classified into 1 of these 3 anatomical networks.

Methods: We recruited 110 anatomically unselected acute stroke patients and 62 age-matched controls. Subjects underwent the attention network test (ANT), which provides a measure of each attention type.