Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42125965›Full record

ArticleeLife2026

Dissociable neural substrates of integration and segregation in exogenous attention.

Yujie Chen, Ai-Su Li, Yang Yu, Su Hu, Xun He, Yang Zhang

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in eLife, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Yujie Chen *Department of Psychology, Soochow University, Suzhou, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5910-382X
Ai-Su Li *Department of Psychology, Soochow University, Suzhou, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2340-3422
Yang YuDepartment of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China.
Su HuDepartment of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China.
Xun HeSchool of Psychology, Bournemouth University, Poole, United Kingdom.
Yang ZhangDepartment of Psychology, Soochow University, Suzhou, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1827-9383

Funding

Brain Science and Brain-like Intelligence Technology - National Science and Technology Major Project 2025ZD0215702Jiangsu Funding Program for Excellent Postdoctoral Talent 2024ZB496Jiangsu Funding Program for Excellent Postdoctoral Talent 2025ZB642National Natural Science Foundation of China 32171049Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province BK20250796Postdoctoral Research Foundation of China 2024M752310Social Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province 22JYB015
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The integration-segregation theory proposes that early facilitation and later inhibition (i.e. inhibition of return [IOR]) in exogenous attention arises from the competition between cue-target event integration and segregation. Although widely supported behaviorally, the theory lacked direct neural evidence. Here, we used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in human participants with an optimized cue-target paradigm to test this account. Cued targets elicited stronger activation in the frontoparietal attention networks, including the bilateral frontal eye field (FEF), intraparietal sulcus (IPS), right temporoparietal junction (TPJ), and left dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), consistent with the notion of attentional demand of reactivating the cue-initiated representations for integration. In contrast, uncued targets engaged the medial temporal cortex, particularly the bilateral parahippocampal gyrus (PHG) and superior temporal gyrus (STG), reflecting the segregation processes associated with new object-file creation and novelty encoding. These dissociable activations provide the first direct neuroimaging evidence for the integration-segregation theory. Moreover, we observed neural interactions between IOR and cognitive conflict, suggesting a potential modulation of conflict processing by attentional orienting. Taken together, these findings provide new insights into exogenous attention by clarifying the neural underpinnings of integration and segregation and uncovering the interaction between spatial orienting and conflict processing.

Indexed as

AttentionBrainAdultBrain MappingCuesFemaleHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleYoung Adultcognitive controlevent-related fMRIexogenous attentionhumaninhibition of returnintegration-segregation theoryneuroscience

Identifiers

PMID42125965
PMCPMC13171101

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.