Functional and structural architecture of the human dorsal frontoparietal attention network

Significance Everyday actions require us to represent attentional priorities in different reference frames. For example, to pick up a cup of coffee, we need to know where the cup is relative to our body, and where the handle is relative to the cup (i.e., body-centered and object-centered reference frames). Multiple brain areas in frontal and parietal cortex help process attentional priorities. Although these areas are commonly conceptualized as an attentional network, it is not clear what neural pathways connect these areas, nor the pathways’ functions. We demonstrate that two pathways link these areas in frontal and parietal cortex. The pathways help represent attentional priorities in different reference frames, enabling us to flexibly interact with objects in our environment.