Neuroimage: The effect of acute inflammation on a person's visual attention.

Disease is often accompanied by cognitive retardation, a condition that can stem from the activation of the immune system.
current study uses electro-encephalograms (EEGs) to assess how inflammation affects three different attention processes: alertness, orientation, and executive control.
The double-blind placebo-controlled trial included 20 healthy male subjects (average age: 24.5 years, SD, 3.4), and typhoid salmonella vaccine (0.025 mg; Sanofi Pasteur) to induce transient mild inflammation and inject physiological saline as a placebo control.
completed the attention network test six hours after the injection and recorded EEG.
analysis focuses on the performance of behavioral tasks, as well as the modulation of oscillating electro-encephalogram activity in the α-band (9-12 Hz) for alertness and execution control of directional attention and the prelength band (4-8 Hz).
by assessing vaccination through leucleocyte mesotonin-6 (IL-6) levels induced mild systemic inflammation.
there was no significant difference in behavioral task performance between inflammation and placebo conditions, inflammation led to significant changes in task-related brain activity.
specifically, inflammation produced greater hint-induced α-motivation inhibition in attention alertness, and individual differences in inflammatory responses were significantly associated with α-motivation inhibition.
noted that inflammation does not affect orientation (i.e α lateralization) or the implementation of control (i.e., frontal leaf gamio activity).
, these results reveal the unique neurophysiological sensitivity of neural networks to acute mild inflammation, which is the basis of attention alertness.
, these new findings suggest that acute inflammation requires individuals to make greater cognitive efforts in preparing for tasks to maintain adequate behavioral performance.
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