Name: Dolly Seeburger

Dissertation Proposal Meeting

Date: Tuesday, June 3rd, 2025

Time: 1:30-2:30 PM (Eastern Time)

Mode: Remote (via Zoom)

Meeting Link: https://gatech.zoom.us/j/99605454538

Dissertation Chairs/Advisor:

Randall Engle, Ph.D. (Georgia Tech)

Dissertation Committee Members:

Shella Keilholz, Ph.D. (Emory University/ Georgia Tech)
Mark Wheeler, Ph.D. (Georgia Tech)

Thackery Brown, Ph.D. (Georgia Tech)

Doby Rahnev, Ph.D. (Georgia Tech)

Title: Brain Networks Underlying Individual Differences in Attention Control

Abstract: Attention control, as a trait variable, is a crucial cognitive ability associated with a range of important life outcomes. Despite its significance, we still lack a clear understanding of how stable, trait-level differences are reflected in the brain. While existing research provides insights into how the average brain responds to fluctuating attentional demands (i.e., state-level variation), much less is known about how these responses vary between individuals and whether such variation maps onto enduring cognitive traits (Van Horn et al., 2008). This gap is due in part to the challenges involved in studying individual differences with neuroimaging (Braver et al., 2010; Cooper et al., 2019; DeYoung et al., 2024). This large-scale fMRI study (N = 219) investigates trait-level individual differences through the dynamic interactions of infraslow brain activity among networks captured by the quasi-periodic pattern (Majeed et al., 2011), particularly the frontoparietal control network, dorsal attention network, default mode network, and ventral attention network. Furthermore, I will examine whether these brain network synchronizations are related to activity in the locus coeruleus–norepinephrine system, which is critical for the maintenance of arousal and has implications for higher-order functions such as attention, learning, working memory, and fluid intelligence (Aston-Jones et al., 1999; Tsukahara & Engle, 2021).