Our results suggest that improvement of cognitive performance on insulin may be related to regional perfusion and vasodilatation and may specifically activate anterior regions that regulate attention-related task performance.
Kerr describes this as a "sensory volume knob" and it is this flexible focusing skill which, the paper proposes, "regulates attention so that it does not become biased toward negative physical sensations and thoughts, as in depression".
Like other genes in the dopaminergic system, the DRD4 gene regulates attention processes, is partially responsible for motivation, and has been linked to exploratory behaviors[ 30].
Intranasal insulin-induced changes in cognitive function may be related to vasodilatation in the anterior brain regions, such as insular cortex that regulates attention-related task performance.
In the whole cohort, cognitive performance on the BVMT and verbal fluency measures upon insulin administration was related to perfusion and vasodilatation within the MCA territory and specifically to the insular cortex that regulates attention-related task performance.
These nontraditional formats are increasingly popular and may be more conducive to successful media multitasking in academic arenas since students can direct and regulate their attention as they control the amount and pace of incoming information.
l-Theanine was associated with decreased fMRI responses to distractor stimuli in brain regions that regulate visual attention, suggesting that l-theanine may be decreasing neural resource allocation to process distractors, thus allowing to attend to targets more efficiently.
Neuroscientists and emotion researchers have found that this kind of practice heightens the activity in the regions of our brain that regulate our attention, which then carries over into our everyday lives.
That is, this part of cortex may regulate whether attention is directed towards SO or SI information, depending on which is most relevant for the current circumstances.
Mindful individuals are less likely to form habits of negative thinking or rumination which tend to increase distress (Epel et al., 2009), indicating that when exposed to stressors these individuals regulate their attention to the present moment which functions to optimize emotional well-being.
