Sharpens attention
Complex attention (DSM-5 domain)
Also searched as Complex attention (DSM-5 domain).
In depth
One of the six cognitive domains defined by the dsm-5. It covers sustaining focus, filtering out distractions, dividing attention between tasks, and processing information under time pressure — which is why speed, not just accuracy, belongs here.
What drives it
Alertness chemical increases it.
10.1186/s13550-023-01032-y — LC-NE might improve perceptual performance by selectively facilitating relevant sensory inputs, thereby contributing to selective attention. doi 10.1186/s13550-023-01032-y · PMC7873441
Motivation increases it.
low levels of D1R stimulation enhance spatial tuning by suppressing responses to nonpreferred directions, whereas high levels reduce delay-related firing for all directions, eroding tuning. PMID 17277774
Memory chemical increases it.
Cholinergic denervation patterns were associated with attention, executive, and visuospatial functioning, but not memory. PMC11755113
Sleep pressure reduces it.
sleep deprivation is associated with increased levels of adenosine, a neuromodulator that has a general inhibitory effect on neural activity. PMC2778638
Sleep increases it.
10.3389/fnins.2022.889009 — impaired performance of small to moderate magnitude in individuals with insomnia as compared to controls in reaction times, but not accuracy rates, of inhibitory control (d = -0.32, 95% CI: -0.52 to -0.13)…. doi 10.3389/fnins.2022.889009 · PMC2778638
Nerve insulation increases it.
In diffuse areas of frontal and parietal white matter, especially the anterior corpus callosum, fractional anisotropy values correlated negatively with reaction time. PMC3503892 Measured as white-matter integrity on diffusion imaging (DTI), an indirect proxy for myelin. PMC3503892
Brain inflammation reduces it.
10.3389/fnagi.2019.00296 — the impact of sleep deprivation on microglia may be a key factor in cognitive impairment. doi 10.3389/fnagi.2019.00296 · PMC12868487
Lowers cortisol reduces it.
10.1155/2020/4064370 — memory performance can be acutely modulated by pharmacological manipulations of glucocorticoids. doi 10.1155/2020/4064370 · PMID 15511597
Sustained focus increases it.
Each cognitive domain consists of more granular cognitive types. Front Psychiatry 2018;9:461.
Processing speed increases it.
The DSM-5 Neurocognitive Work Group agreed on six principal domains of cognitive function, each with subdomains. Complex attention comprises sustained, divided and selective attention and processing speed. Taxonomic edge, not a causal mechanism: this is a DSM-5 domain/subdomain relationship, not a pathway acting on another. Sachdev 2014, Nat Rev Neurol 10:634-642 — Classifying neurocognitive disorders: the DSM-5 approach. doi 10.1038/nrneurol.2014.181
Selective attention increases it.
The DSM-5 Neurocognitive Work Group agreed on six principal domains of cognitive function, each with subdomains. Complex attention comprises sustained, divided and selective attention and processing speed. Taxonomic edge, not a causal mechanism: this is a DSM-5 domain/subdomain relationship, not a pathway acting on another. Sachdev 2014, Nat Rev Neurol 10:634-642 — Classifying neurocognitive disorders: the DSM-5 approach. doi 10.1038/nrneurol.2014.181
Divided attention increases it.
The DSM-5 Neurocognitive Work Group agreed on six principal domains of cognitive function, each with subdomains. Complex attention comprises sustained, divided and selective attention and processing speed. Taxonomic edge, not a causal mechanism: this is a DSM-5 domain/subdomain relationship, not a pathway acting on another. Sachdev 2014, Nat Rev Neurol 10:634-642 — Classifying neurocognitive disorders: the DSM-5 approach. doi 10.1038/nrneurol.2014.181
Hearing increases it.
Verbatim: 'The improved attention and processing speed in the youngest age group may be a consequence of reallocation of cognitive resources away from auditory processing due to greatly improved hearing.' (10.3389/fnagi.2024.1444330). Tier: human observational data. human · cochlear implantation (surgical device intervention) · n=100, aged ≥60 years, bilateral moderately-severe to profound post-lingual deafness, prior hearing-aid users · p. doi 10.3389/fnagi.2024.1444330
What it drives
It increases Memory & focus.
The DSM-5 Neurocognitive Work Group agreed on six principal domains of cognitive function — complex attention, executive function, learning and memory, language, perceptual-motor and social cognition. Taxonomic edge, not a causal mechanism: this is a DSM-5 domain/subdomain relationship, not a pathway acting on another. Sachdev 2014, Nat Rev Neurol 10:634-642 — Classifying neurocognitive disorders: the DSM-5 approach. doi 10.1038/nrneurol.2014.181
It increases Divided attention.
Divided attention is a measured subdomain of the complex-attention cognitive domain. doi 10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00461
Blends that modulate it
Each blend page names this pathway and carries the study behind its claim.
See it on the map
Open the causal map to follow this pathway upstream and downstream, arrow by arrow, each with its study.