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PubMed2000

The role of the Child Health Services in the identification of children with possible attention deficit hyperactivity disorder/deficits in attention, motor control and perception (ADHD/DAMP).

Literature concerning the role of the Child Health Services in the identification of children with possible Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder/Deficits in Attention, Motor Control and Perception (ADHD/DAMP) is summarized in order to establish a background for evaluation, discussion and conclusion.

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity↗
PubMed1992

Graphical displays: implications for divided attention, focused attention, and problem solving.

When completing tasks in complex, dynamic domains observers must consider the relationships among many variables (e.g., integrated tasks) as well as the values of individual variables (e.g., focused tasks). A critical issue in display design is whether or not a single display format can achieve the dual design goals of supporting performance at both types of tasks. We consider this issue from a variety of perspectives. One relevant perspective is the basic research on attention and object perception, which concentrates on the interaction between visual features and processing capabilities. The principles of configurality are discussed, with the conclusion that they support the possibility of achieving the dual design goals. These considerations are necessary but not sufficient for effective display design. Graphic displays map information from a domain into visual features; the tasks to be completed are defined in terms of the domain, not in terms of the visual features alone. The implications of this subtle but extremely important difference are discussed. The laboratory research investigating alternative display formats is reviewed. Much like the attention literature, the results do not rule out the possibility that the dual design goals can be achieved.

Attention↗
PubMed2002

Modulation of the perception of temporal order by attentional and pre-attentional factors.

When two stimuli are presented simultaneously to an observer, the perceived temporal order does not always correspond to the actual one. In three experiments we examined how the location and spatial predictability of visual stimuli modulate the perception of temporal order. Thirty-two participants had to report the temporal order of appearance of two visual stimuli. In Experiment 1, both stimuli were presented at the same eccentricity and no perceptual asynchrony between them was found. In Experiment 2, one stimulus was presented close to the fixation point and the other, peripheral, stimulus was presented in separate blocks in two eccentricities (4.8 degrees and 9.6 degrees ). We found that the peripheral stimulus was perceived to be delayed in relation to the central one, with no significant difference between the delays obtained in the two eccentricities. In Experiment 3, using three eccentricities (2.5 degrees, 7.3 degrees and 12.1 degrees ) for the presentation of the peripheral stimulus, we compared a condition in which its location was highly predictable with two other conditions in which its location was progressively less predictable. Here, the perception of the peripheral stimulus was also delayed in relation to the central one, with this delay depending on both the eccentricity and predictability of the stimulus. We argue that attentional deployment, manipulated by the spatial predictability of the stimulus, seems to play an important role in the temporal order perception of visual stimuli. Yet, under whichever condition of spatial predictability, basic sensory and attentional processes are unavoidably entangled and both factors must concur to the perception of temporal order.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1993

Attention state in electrodermal activity during auditory stimulation of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Electrodermal activity during passive and active listening tasks of 18 children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and 49 healthy school children was studied. The procedure included baseline recording, a passive listening task, instructions, and both simple and discriminative active-listening tasks. ADHD subjects tended to exhibit lower arousal as indicated by the decrease in amplitude of the skin conductance response. Present findings confirm classical observation that ADHD children have shorter attention spans.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed2006

Attentional capture triggers an attentional blink.

Two experiments examined the possibility that attention directed to a distractor during rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) can produce an attentional blink (AB). A to-be-ignored distractor (D1) preceded a target word (T2) by a variable lag in RSVP streams of black false-font distractors. D1 was highlighted by color and was a word, a string of consonants, a string of digits, or a string of false-font characters. Recall of T2 was significantly suppressed at short D1-T2 lags (the AB) but only when D1 contained letters; the AB was completely absent when D1 was composed of digits or false-font characters. Thus, the AB can be triggered by a highlighted distractor if the distractor shares features with a target.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Timing attention: cuing target onset interval attenuates the attentional blink.

Three experiments tested whether the attentional blink (AB; a deficit in reporting the second of two targets when it occurs 200-500 msec after the first) can be attenuated by providing information about the target onset asynchrony (TOA) of the second target relative to the first. Blocking the TOA did not improve second-target performance relative to a condition in which the TOA varied randomly from trial to trial (Experiment 1). In contrast, explicitly cuing the TOA on a trial-by-trial basis attenuated the AB without a cost to first-target identification (Experiments 2 and 3). The results suggest that temporal cues influence the allocation of attentional resources by adding temporal information to the perceptual description of the second target that can then be used to filter targets from nontargets, resulting in enhanced accuracy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Attentional and perceptual sources of the auditory attentional blink.

When a rapid succession of auditory stimuli is listened to, processing of the second of two successive targets among fillers is often impaired, a phenomenon known as the attentional blink (AB). Three experiments were conducted to examine the role of filler items in modulating the size of the auditory AB, using a two-alternative forced choice discrimination paradigm. In the first experiment, dual-stream presentations in which low- and high-pitch items were separated by six semitones were tested. A transient deficit in reporting the probe was observed in the presence of fillers that was greater when fillers were in the same stream as the probe. In the absence of a filler, there was a residual deficit, but this was not related to the time lag between the target and the probe. In the second and third experiments, in which single-stream presentations were used, a typical AB was found in the presence of homogeneous fillers, but heterogeneous fillers tended to produce a greater deficit. In the absence of a filler, there was little or no evidence of a blink. The pattern of results suggests that other attentional and perceptual factors contribute to the blink.

Attention↗
PubMed2000

[Posner's theory of attention: right hemisphere processing advantage in extended attention].

Posner proposed a theory of attention based on target detection, visual orienting, and alertness. The latter is supposed to use brain structures mainly located in the right hemisphere. Whitehead found a right hemisphere processing superiority during sustained attention. An additional auditory stimulus is thought to produce a change of alertness and should interfere with this asymmetry, which Whitehead was able to show, too. It remains unclear how the left hemisphere is activated by right hemisphere pathways. Therefore we tried to replicate Whitehead's findings. In our first experiment the expected interaction between visual field, foreperiod duration, and tone was obtained. Probably the tone used in our experiment was not intense enough to produce a sufficient change in alertness. We used a more intense tone in a second experiment. This time a three-way interaction was present but could not be interpreted in terms of Whitehead's assumptions. Instead, the additional alerting stimulus seems to influence the state of alertness in a much more general and long-lasting way.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Concentration of attention and learning processes in patients with schizophrenic psychosis. Part I. Attention disorders].

Test of the ability to focus attention on the task at hand revealed attention deficits in each group of patients under study. The decision taking time in simple reaction test was longest in schizophrenic patients, significantly longer then in patients with affective disorder. It was also fund that chronic schizophrenics performed relatively better in the vigilance test then patients hospitalized for the first time.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

The alpha-2A adrenoceptor agonist guanfacine improves sustained attention and reduces overactivity and impulsiveness in an animal model of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

BACKGROUND: ADHD is currently defined as a cognitive/behavioral developmental disorder where all clinical criteria are behavioral. Overactivity, impulsiveness, and inattentiveness are presently regarded as the main clinical symptoms. There is no biological marker, but there is considerable evidence to suggest that ADHD behavior is associated with poor dopaminergic and noradrenergic modulation of neuronal circuits that involve the frontal lobes. The best validated animal model of ADHD, the Spontaneously Hypertensive Rat (SHR), shows pronounced overactivity, impulsiveness, and deficient sustained attention. While dopamine release is decreased in SHR prefrontal cortex, norepinephrine concentrations are elevated. The noradrenergic system appears to be hyperactive as a result of impaired alpha-2A adrenoceptor regulation. Thus, the present study tested behavioral effects of the centrally acting alpha-2A adrenoceptor agonist guanfacine on SHR behavior. METHODS: The present study tested behavioral effects of guanfacine at doses of 0.075, 0.15, 0.30 and 0.60 mg base/kg i.p. in both male SHRs and their controls, the Wistar Kyoto rat (WKY). ADHD-like behavior was tested with a visual discrimination task measuring overactivity, impulsiveness and inattentiveness. RESULTS: The striking impulsiveness, overactivity, and reduced sustained attention during baseline conditions in the SHR improved by treatment with guanfacine. The most pronounced improvement in SHR behavior was seen following the two highest doses (0.3 and 0.6 mg/kg) of guanfacine when SHR behaviors virtually normalized. The positive effects of the drug were most marked towards the end of the session. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that guanfacine improved poor noradrenergic modulation of neuronal circuits that involve the frontal lobes in an animal model of ADHD. The present results support the beneficial effects of guanfacine on ADHD behavior reported clinically and experimentally in primate models of frontal function. It is likely that guanfacine improved prefrontal functions in the SHR. It cannot be concluded, however, that the effects of the drug are mediated solely by norepinephrine.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2001

Internal consistency, temporal stability, and reproducibility of individual index scores of the Test of Variables of Attention in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Psychometric properties of the Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA) were examined in a cohort of children (n=63) strictly diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD). Internal consistency was assessed via correlational analyses to determine the degree of agreement among various test portions. The temporal stability of errors of omission, errors of commission, response time, and response time variability was evaluated using test-retest reliability. Reproducibility of individual scores for the same indices was assessed using the Bland-Altman procedure. Select TOVA index scores exhibited high internal consistency in this cohort. Although the temporal stability of group scores (test-retest reliability) was satisfactory, individual test scores were less reproducible. Temporal stability and individual test-retest score agreement were greater for response time and response time variability than for errors of omission and errors of commission.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1991

A divided attention analysis of the effects of methylphenidate on the arithmetic performance of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Thirteen boys with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) completed 80 arithmetic problems presented on a computer screen by typing a two digit answer. On half the trials, a foot press was required to terminate a computer-generated tone presented 2 seconds before, 1 second before, 1 second after, and 2 seconds after arithmetic problem presentation. Compared to placebo, methylphenidate resulted in significantly faster reaction times (RTs) to tone probes and faster answers to arithmetic problems when the two tasks did not overlap in time, but not when simultaneous processing was required when the probe was presented 2 seconds after arithmetic problems. When dual processing taxed cognitive capacity, methylphenidate still improved accuracy on the primary arithmetic task relative to placebo, but at the expense of speed of performance on the secondary RT task. When ADHD children fail to allocate available resources to a primary cognitive task, treatment with methylphenidate may result in reallocation of existing cognitive capacity from a secondary task to the primary task.

Attention↗
PubMed2004

Involvement of norepinephrine in the control of activity and attentive processes in animal models of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Functional and morphological studies in children affected by Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) suggest a prefrontal cortex (PFc) dysfunction. This cortical region is regulated by subcortical systems including noradrenergic (NEergic), dopaminergic (DAergic), cholinergic, serotonergic, and histaminergic pathways. A wealth of data in humans and in animal models demonstrates altered dopamine (DA) regulation. Drugs that modulate norepinephrine (NE) transmission are also effective in ADHD patients, thus leading to the hypothesis of a NEergic disorder. This review covers the regulation of PFc functions by NE and the interaction between the NE and DA systems, as suggested by pharmacological, electrophysiological, morphological, and gene knock out (KO) studies. A negative feedback between NE and DA neurons emerges from KO studies because KO mice showing increased (NE transporter (NET) KO) or decreased (DBH and VMAT2 KO) NE levels are respectively associated with lower and higher DA levels. Locomotor activity can be generally predicted by the DA level, whereas sensitivity to amphetamines is by NE/DA balance. Some animal models of ADHD, such as spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), show alterations in the PFc and in the DA system. Evidence about a correlation between the NE system and hyper-locomotion activity in such animals has not yet been clarified. Therefore, this review also includes recent evidence on the behavioral effects of two NET blockers, reboxetine and atomoxetine, in two animal models of ADHD: SHR and Naples High Excitability rats. As these drugs modulate the DA level in the PFc, certain effects are likely to be due to a rebalanced DA system. We discuss the significance of the results for theories of ADHD and make suggestions for future experimentation.

Adrenergic Uptake Inhibitors↗
PubMed2006

Mothers' attributions for behavior in nonproblem boys, boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and oppositional defiant behavior.

This study compared attributions for child behavior among mothers of 38 nonproblem boys, 26 boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and 25 boys with ADHD and oppositional defiant (OD) behavior. Boys ranged from 7 to 10 years of age. To capture different aspects of mothers' attributions, 2 assessment methods were employed: (a) ratings of the internality, controllability, globality, and stability of causes for written descriptions of child behavior and (b) coding of the types of causal attributions that mothers provided in vivo while watching their own child's behavior. In response to the written descriptions of child behavior, mothers of boys with ADHD/OD rated the causes of oppositional and inattentive-impulsive child behaviors as more stable and global than did mothers of nonproblem boys. In identifying causes of their own child's failure on lab tasks, mothers of boys with ADHD/OD provided more child-negative attributional causes than did mothers of either ADHD only or nonproblem boys. Implications for assessing and understanding attributions in families of children with ADHD and OD are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Controlled-release methylphenidate improves attention during on-road driving by adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

BACKGROUND: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with a 3- to 4-fold increase in both driving-related accidents and associated injuries. Methylphenidate (MPH) is the most commonly prescribed psychostimulant medication for ADHD. It has been demonstrated to improve performance on a driving simulator. This study investigated whether a once-daily, long-acting, osmotic, controlled-release MPH formulation improves the driving performance of ADHD adolescents while driving their own car on an actual road segment. METHODS: Twelve ADHD-diagnosed male adolescent drivers (mean age, 17.8 years) prescribed a standard dose of 1.0 mg/kg (if they were not already taking methylphenidate) of controlled-release MPH participated in this repeated-measures crossover study. On 2 separate occasions (off/on medication randomized), participants drove a standard 16-mile road course incorporating rural, highway, and urban streets. A rater, blind to medication conditions, sat in the back seat and rated impulsive (eg, "cutting off" another driver) and inattentive (eg, drove past designated turn) driving errors. RESULTS: Impulsive driving errors were observed to occur rarely under both medication and no medication conditions. Inattentive driving errors were more common and were significantly reduced while the subject was on medication (4.6 versus 7.8; P <.01). The improvement in driving performance (change in number of errors recorded) from first to second testing was positively correlated with medication dosage (r = 0.60; P <.01). CONCLUSIONS: Once-daily controlled-release MPH improves real-life driving performance of adolescent males diagnosed with ADHD. In particular, it significantly reduces driving errors arising from inattention.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Platelet MAO and measures of attention and impulsivity in boys with attention deficit disorder and hyperactivity.

Platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity was studied in 22 boys diagnosed as having attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity and 12 healthy control boys admitted to a clinical research center and placed on a diet low in monoamines. The hyperactive boys had lower platelet MAO activity than controls, and MAO activity was related to performance on the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFF) and the Continuous Performance Test (CPT), which yield scores sensitive to impulsivity and inattention. Furthermore, it was negatively related, in hyperactive boys only, to two tests of reading and spelling achievement. Administration of d-amphetamine and placebo in a double-blind crossover design did not significantly raise MAO levels above baseline and was minimally related to improved performance on the MFF and CPT.

Achievement↗
PubMed1996

Auditory sustained attention in schizophrenia: a comparison of the Continuous Performance Test and the Pigache Attention Task.

An auditory version of the Continuous Performance Test (CPT) was compared with the Pigache Attention Task (PAT) to evaluate relative sensitivities in schizophrenia. Digits spoken seamlessly for 5 min required a button-press response to each of 50 targets. Diotic and dichotic event rates were 1/s for the CPT and 0.5/s and 2/s for the PAT. 'Correct' responses were restricted to the interstimulus interval (CPT) or to longer intervals (PAT). This study demonstrated that the CPT method of scoring is invalid since significant numbers of late responses counted as both omission and commission errors. The CPT was significantly easier than the PAT, which provided a more appropriate range of difficulty. The PAT again discriminated between healthy subjects and schizophrenic patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Expectancy, controlled attention and automatic attention in prospective temporal judgments.

Two experiments indicate that prospective judgments of a temporal target are influenced by nontarget temporal features. The basic task was to reproduce a target interval marked by visual events. In addition, visual or auditory interfering events were delivered. Experiment 1 showed that temporal reproduction is shorter when the interfering events occupy a late rather than early position during the target interval, a result explained in terms of expectancy, which causes attention shifts. This study also revealed that similar trends are obtained whether the interfering event involves a specific task or is irrelevant. Experiment 2 confirmed the position effect, and showed that the duration of an irrelevant cue can influence judgment of the target interval, as if it were also timed without appropriate control.

Acoustic Stimulation↗