Attention and working memory: Animal models for cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia - Studies on D2-like receptor knockout mice

Abstract

The ability of humans and other higher vertebrates to implement and orchestrate behavioral strategies that are geared towards defined goals is governed by fundamental cognitive functions of attentional control and working memory that control lower-level sensory, memory, and motor operations for the purpose of achieving these goals. Studies on patients with distinct brain lesions have provided the foundation to delineate a structure-function relationship of such cognitive functions. Moreover, recent advances in brain imaging using positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have added a new dimension to the study of this structure-function relationship, namely the potential of investigating functional interactions among various brain regions in subjects performing defined cognitive tasks. Hence, the last decade of research on higher cognitive functions yielded a wealth of new knowledge about the multiplicity of brain regions that are activated at different stages of information processing.