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PubMed2001

The nature of attentional differences between groups of children differentiated by teacher ratings of attention and hyperactivity.

Two groups of children, one with good attention and low hyperactivity and the other with poor attention and high hyperactivity, were formed on the basis of teachers' ratings. The groups were tested on a large number of tests of attentional performance, covering selective attention, divided attention, sustained attention and executive function. Analysis of group differences, with verbal and non-verbal intelligence controlled statistically, indicated that the groups demonstrated significant differences on a variety of measures. Principal components analysis of the tests of attention isolated two components, one of which significantly distinguished the two groups. It is suggested that this component reflected aspects of executive control of attention. The measures which discriminated the groups most clearly were efficiency of visual search involving two targets in alternation, the number of correct responses on a specially devised version of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task and a task measuring the ability to inhibit a dominant response. It is suggested that all these tasks required a combination of selective attention and executive control. It was also noted that the poor attention group produced bigger individual differences on all measures, indicating that this group may include a variety of weaknesses which require more precise analysis to distinguish them.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1993

The time course of attentional zooming: a comparison of voluntary and involuntary allocation of attention to the levels of compound stimuli.

The time course of attentional zooming between the levels of hierarchically structured compound stimuli (level-specific covert orienting of attention) is explored experimentally. The experiment compares the RT-SOA functions of voluntarily and involuntarily initiated level-specific reorienting within a cost-benefit experiment using level-specific cues. With respect to the two modes of initiation, the results reveal no functional differences between attention shift and attentional zooming. Both can be initiated either voluntarily or involuntarily, the latter mode dominating the former; for both, involuntary initiation produces faster reorienting of attention than does voluntary initiation, and for both, involuntary initiation is more effective than voluntary initiation. However, the time needed to complete attentional orienting is about twice as long for zooming than for shifts. This quantitative difference suggests that there is a functional difference between level-specific and horizontal covert orienting. The difference is explained by postulating that zooming and attention shifts differ in the number of parameter sets that have to be adjusted in the reorienting of attention. The experiment also reveals that attentional zooming to the local level needs more time than does zooming to the global level. This result gives some support to the hypothesis that the RT difference between global and local identifications (Navon's global-dominance phenomenon) is due to an additional step in the course of reorienting attention away from the global level (which is usually attended to first) to the local level, when this level is to be identified.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Exogenous attention and endogenous attention influence initial dominance in binocular rivalry.

We investigated the influence of exogenous and endogenous attention on initial selection in binocular rivalry. Experiment 1 used superimposed +/-45 degrees gratings viewed dioptically for 3s, followed by a brief contrast increment in one of the gratings to direct exogenous attention to that grating. After a brief blank period, dichoptic stimuli were presented for various durations (100-700 ms). Exogenous attention strongly influenced which stimulus was initially dominant in binocular rivalry, replicating an earlier report (Mitchell, Stoner, & Reynolds. (2004). Object-based attention determines dominance in binocular rivalry. Nature, 429, 410-413). In Experiment 2, endogenous attention was manipulated by having participants track one of two oblique gratings both of which independently and continuously changed their orientations and spatial frequencies during a 5s period. The initially dominant grating was most often the one whose orientation matched the grating correctly tracked using endogenous attention. In Experiment 3, we measured the strength of both exogenous and endogenous attention by varying the contrast of one of two rival gratings when attention was previously directed to that grating. The contrast of the attended grating had to be reduced by an amount in the neighborhood of 0.3 log-units, to counteract attention's boost to initial dominance. Evidently both exogenous and endogenous attention can influence initial dominance of binocular rivalry, effectively boosting the stimulus strength of the attended rival stimulus.

Adaptation, Ocular↗
PubMed2003

Attention capture by auditory significant stimuli: semantic analysis follows attention switching.

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from the scalp to investigate a long-standing controversy in auditory attention research, namely when the 'breakthrough of the unattended' takes place in the human brain. Nine subjects classified visual stimuli appearing 300 ms after task-irrelevant standard tones (80%, i.e. P = 0.8) or novel sounds (20%, i.e. P = 0.2) into odd/even categories. After the recording session, subjects scored the novel sounds as to whether they had any particular meaning (identifiable) or were perceived as a burst of noise (non-identifiable), and performance and ERPs were analysed according to this classification. A control condition, in which the visual stimuli were presented with no sounds, showed that subjects covertly monitored the task-irrelevant sounds during visual task-performance, and a further condition, in which the auditory and visual stimuli appeared regardless of each other, made it possible to trace the processing of the distracters during allocation of attention outside the auditory environment. Results yielded identical N1-enhancement for the two types of novel sounds, indicating similar attention switching triggered to these two types of unexpected sounds. However, there was a stronger orientating of attention towards identifiable novel sounds, as indicated both by behavioural distraction and by larger novelty-P3. Furthermore, this stronger orientating of attention was due to the sounds being contingent on the visual stimuli, as no increase in novelty-P3 to identifiable novel sounds was observed in the control condition, in which the sounds occurred outside the attentional set. Therefore, provided that the N1-enhancement reflects a call for focal attention, and novelty-P3 the effective orientating of attention towards the eliciting sounds, the present results suggest that semantic analysis of significant sounds occurs after a transitory switch of attention towards the eliciting stimuli. Moreover, as the novelty-P3 increase in amplitude was observed only when subjects covertly monitored the sounds, the present data suggest that semantic analysis of irrelevant sounds depends on the top-down cognitive influences of the attentional set.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed2001

Improving attention and managing attentional problems. Adapting rehabilitation techniques to adults with ADD.

Research and clinical experience in the field of brain injury rehabilitation have focused quite extensively on the need and potential to retrain attentional skills that are commonly affected by acquired brain injury. Four approaches to managing attention impairments that have emerged from this literature include attention process training, training use of strategies and environmental support, training use of external aids, and the provision of psychosocial support. Most often, several of these will be used in combination. For example, a therapy regimen might include attention process training emphasizing specific components of attention (e.g., sustained attention), in conjunction with training in pacing techniques, and psychosocial support, where the client keeps behavioral logs and discusses insights gained from tracking attention successes and attention lapses. Although there are as yet little data with regard to the effectiveness of these approaches in adults with developmental disorders of attention, there is a growing literature suggesting they may be effective in children and adolescents with ADHD. Further investigation of the application of such techniques in adults with a wide variety of attention disorders, including developmental disorders, would be valuable.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2001

The nature of attentional differences between groups of children differentiated by teacher ratings of attention and hyperactivity.

Two groups of children, one with good attention and low hyperactivity and the other with poor attention and high hyperactivity, were formed on the basis of teachers' ratings. The groups were tested on a large number of tests of attentional performance, covering selective attention, divided attention, sustained attention and executive function. Analysis of group differences, with verbal and non-verbal intelligence controlled statistically, indicated that the groups demonstrated significant differences on a variety of measures. Principal components analysis of the tests of attention isolated two components, one of which significantly distinguished the two groups. It is suggested that this component reflected aspects of executive control of attention. The measures which discriminated the groups most clearly were efficiency of visual search involving two targets in alternation, the number of correct responses on a specially devised version of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task and a task measuring the ability to inhibit a dominant response. It is suggested that all these tasks required a combination of selective attention and executive control. It was also noted that the poor attention group produced bigger individual differences on all measures, indicating that this group may include a variety of weaknesses which require more precise analysis to distinguish them.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

Differential effects of methylphenidate on attentional functions in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of methylphenidate on different attentional functions and behavior in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). METHOD: A total of 60 ADHD children aged between 8 and 12 years completed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subject crossover trial with two doses of methylphenidate (0.25 and 0.5 mg/kg body weight) and placebo. A comprehensive neuropsychological test battery was applied, including tests of alertness and sustained, focused, and divided attention as well as two executive tests, the stop-signal paradigm and a visual set-shifting task. RESULTS: A linear improvement was identified for both medication conditions in the alertness and focused and sustained attention task, but no significant improvement was found for divided attention. Quadratic trends were found for both executive tasks. Responders defined by behavior ratings did not differ from nonresponders. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate that attentional functions are influenced differentially by methylphenidate: intensity-dimension functions are best influenced by higher doses, executive functions by moderate doses, and selectivity-dimension functions by variable doses. In addition, divergent results from behavior rating scales and from attentional paradigms emphasize that clinicians have to decide what constitutes an appropriate clinical response. A more comprehensive assessment of attention may help to find an individually optimal dose for the treatment of attentional dysfunctions.

Attention↗
PubMed2002

Visual spatial attention in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

BACKGROUND: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was characterized by deficit in the attention mechanism. Until now, the visual-spatial attention deficit in children with ADHD remains controversial. We report a study of the visual spatial attention to assess covert shifts of attention and sustained attention theoretically linked to two neuroanatomically defined attentional system in the posterior and anterior parts of the human brain. METHODS: Using the Neuroscan system, the reaction time (RT) was measured according to three different within-subject conditions including cueing (valid, invalid and neutral); delay (800 msec and 100 msec); side [right visual field (RVF) and left visual field (LVF)] as well as one between-subject condition (healthy, ADHD). RESULTS: The AHDH group showed slower RTs overall (RT = 760 msec) than the comparison group (RT = 650 msec) (p = 0.001). RTs in the delayed condition of 800 msec (RT = 680 msec) were faster than in the delayed condition of 100 msec (RT = 730 msec) in all children (p < 0.001). The ADHD group showed significant lateral differences in RT (RTRVF: 880 msec > RTLVF: 830 msec) in the 100 msec delay for the invalid cueing condition (p = 0.045) that was not found in the comparison group. CONCLUSION: General dysfunction including posterior-based covert shift of attention and anterior-based sustained attention was found in ADHD group. Furthermore, asymmetric left parietal dysfunction in the disengaged operation was noted in those with ADHD.

Attention↗
PubMed2005

Biasing the brain's attentional set: I. cue driven deployments of intersensory selective attention.

Brain activity associated with directing attention to one of two possible sensory modalities was examined using high-density mapping of human event-related potentials. The deployment of selective attention was based on visually presented symbolic cue-words instructing subjects on a trial-by-trial basis, which sensory modality to attend. We measured the spatio-temporal pattern of activation in the approximately 1 second period between the cue-instruction and a subsequent compound auditory-visual imperative stimulus. This allowed us to assess the flow of processing across brain regions involved in deploying and sustaining inter-sensory selective attention, prior to the actual selective processing of the compound audio-visual target stimulus. Activity over frontal and parietal areas showed sensory specific increases in activation during the early part of the anticipatory period (~230 ms), probably representing the activation of fronto-parietal attentional deployment systems for top-down control of attention. In the later period preceding the arrival of the "to-be-attended" stimulus, sustained differential activity was seen over fronto-central regions and parieto-occipital regions, suggesting the maintenance of sensory-specific biased attentional states that would allow for subsequent selective processing. Although there was clear sensory biasing in this late sustained period, it was also clear that both sensory systems were being prepared during the cue-target period. These late sensory-specific biasing effects were also accompanied by sustained activations over frontal cortices that also showed both common and sensory specific activation patterns, suggesting that maintenance of the biased state includes top-down inputs from generators in frontal cortices, some of which are sensory-specific regions. These data support extensive interactions between sensory, parietal and frontal regions during processing of cue information, deployment of attention, and maintenance of the focus of attention in anticipation of impending attentionally relevant input.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed2005

Covert manual response preparation triggers attentional shifts: ERP evidence for the premotor theory of attention.

The premotor theory of attention claims that the preparation of goal-directed action and shifts of attention are closely linked, because they are controlled by shared sensorymotor mechanisms. Until now, support for this theory has come primarily from studies demonstrating links between saccade programming and attention shifts. The present event-related brain potential (ERP) study demonstrated that attentional orienting processes are also elicited during the covert preparation of unimanual responses. ERPs were recorded in the interval between a visual response-hand selection cue and a subsequent visual Go/Nogo signal when participants prepared to lift their left or right index finger. Lateralised ERP components elicited during response preparation were very similar to components previously observed during instructed endogenous attention shifts, indicating that analogous attentional orienting processes are activated in both cases. Somatosensory ERP components (P90, N140) were enhanced when task-irrelevant tactile probes were delivered during response preparation to the hand involved in an anticipated response, even when probes were presented well in advance of response execution. These results suggest that attentional shifts are triggered during unimanual response preparation, as predicted by the premotor theory. This link between manual response programming and attention is consistent with the hypothesis that common mechanisms are involved in the control of attention and action.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Ear advantage and attention: an ERP study of auditory cued attention.

The neurophysiological manifestations of left ear advantage to tonal stimuli and its interaction with attention have rarely been studied. Cued attention is a behavioral paradigm to assess the behavioral benefits and costs of allocating attention. In this task a cue predicts the location of a subsequent target to which the subject responds. In most cases the cue correctly predicts the target (valid cues) but at times it does not (invalid cues). Cued attention is a spatial paradigm with stimuli presented to either side. The objectives of this study were: (1) to find the neurophysiological correlates of the ear advantage phenomenon and (2) to assess the interaction of the stimulated side (right vs. left ear advantage) with attention, in a cued attention task. Significant effects on event-related potentials (ERPs) in the cued attention task indicated left ear and right hemisphere advantage. Effects were mostly confined to the right hemisphere. The results indicate interactions among left ear advantage, attention and dominant hand utilization. Ear advantage and attention may involve the same neural mechanisms. In spite of the left ear advantage effect on ERP components, hand dominance determines the final behavioral results (reaction times).

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed2002

Forms of attention and attentional disorders.

Difficulties in attention or concentration are observed in many clinical syndromes. Cognitive studies of normal attention and neuropsychological studies of brain dysfunction indicate that attention reflects a variety of mechanisms. These processes include the startle response, the orienting response, selective attention, vigilance, and divided attention. Understanding the specific mechanisms involved in attention deficits or lapses may be helpful in planning and evaluating remediation programs and in altering patients' environments to compensate for specific attention deficits. In this article, forms of attention and disorders of attention are discussed, with emphasis on their importance to every day activities.

Arousal↗
PubMed2000

Attentional deficits in patients with closed head injury: a further study to the discriminative validity of the test of everyday attention.

This study aimed to explore the attentional performance of patients with closed head injury (CHI) and to examine the discriminative validity of the Test of Everyday Attention (TEA) in this clinical population. A sample of 21 patients with CHI was recruited for this study. Another sample of matched controls was also recruited for comparison. In addition, other clinical tests of attention and questionnaires on everyday life cognitive failures were also given to the participants during the assessment session. The results showed that patients with CHI exhibited significant differences in most of the TEA subtests, as well as clinical tests of attention, as compared with the matched controls. These findings suggest that the majority of the TEA subtests are able to discriminate out those patients with attentional deficits from the normal population in terms of sustained attention, selective attention, divided attention, and attentional switching.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Attenuation of spatial attentional asymmetries with poor sustained attention.

The co-existence of deficits in sustained and spatial attention in patients with acquired damage to the right cerebral hemisphere has led to the proposition that sustained attention could be a marker for left spatial inattention, or neglect. We investigated the possibility that reductions in leftward spatial attentional asymmetries could arise from individual differences in the capacity for sustained attention even within healthy adult populations. We observed that healthy participants who performed poorly on a test of sustained attention had a significantly attenuated left spatial bias, relative to those with good sustained attention capacity, on a free-viewing spatial attention test. Our results provide further support for the notion that sustained attention may exert a modulatory influence on spatial attention.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

X-monosomy effects on visuospatial attention in mice: a candidate gene and implications for Turner syndrome and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

BACKGROUND: The loss of all, or part of an X chromosome, in Turner syndrome (TS, 45,XO) results in deficits in attentional functioning. METHODS: Using a 39,XO mouse model, we tested the hypothesis that X-monosomy and/or parental origin of the single X chromosome may influence visuospatial attentional functioning in a 5-choice serial reaction time task (5-CSRTT). RESULTS: Under attentionally demanding conditions 39,XO mice displayed impaired discriminative response accuracy and slowed correct reaction times relative to 40,XX mice; these deficits were alleviated in a version of the task with reduced attentional demands. Parental origin of the X did not affect performance of the 5-CSRTT. In contrast, the attentional phenotype was rescued in 40,XY*X mice possessing a single maternally inherited X chromosome and a small Y*X chromosome that comprises a complete pseudoautosomal region (PAR), and a small X-specific segment. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings are consistent with an X-monosomy effect on attention and suggest the existence of X-linked gene(s) that escape X-inactivation, are present on the small Y*X chromosome and impact on attentional functioning; the strongest candidate gene is Sts, encoding steroid sulfatase. The data inform the TS literature and indicate novel genetic mechanisms that may be of general significance to the neurobiology of attention.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder involves differential cortical processing in a visual spatial attention paradigm.

OBJECTIVE: Inattention is undoubtedly one of the main characteristics of Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Nevertheless, a growing corpus of evidence shows that not all attentional processes are affected in this condition. This study aimed to explore the distribution of attentional resources in children with ADHD via a spatially shifted double-oddball visual task. METHODS: We recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) for all visual stimuli. Subjects were instructed to allocate attention in a specific area of visual space while ignoring all stimuli presented outside. Ten male children (age: 9-14; mean = 11.6 +/- 2.1) who met DSM-IV criteria for the ADHD combined subtype participated in the study, along with ten age- and sex-matched healthy controls (9-14; mean = 11.2 +/- 2.3). RESULTS: ADHD subjects showed late differential cortical responses to initially suppressed irrelevant stimuli. The amplitude of early N1-P1 components were mainly modulated by stimulus location and showed no significant differences between groups, but a late P300-like positivity was clearly evoked in the ADHD group by peripheral stimuli. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that ADHD may not compromise the early attentional spatial filter but rather entails a different distribution of attentional resources at later stages of cortical processing. Perhaps these differences may be attributable to individual differences in attentional mechanisms. SIGNIFICANCE: ADHD may not affect initial focusing of visual attention but rather the allocation of processing resources in later stages.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Norepinephrine and acetylcholine mediation of the components of reflexive attention: implications for attention deficit disorders.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD) create major learning barriers for children and significant social and legal handicaps for adults worldwide. Important advances in the genetic basis of the disease have been made, but reliable, biological, diagnostic markers remain elusive. This review takes the position that future progress in treating the core symptom of attention deficits requires a clearer understanding of the neuroscience of attention in normal individuals. Two important achievements in this direction have been the development of tasks that identify activity in the orienting, alerting and conflict networks, and the identification of neurotransmitters that mediate these components. The proven ability of these tasks to identify and characterize response components of "normal" attention argues that they could be used advantageously with patient populations. The categorization of neurotransmitter abnormalities in those with ADHD could clarify whether attention deficits occur within or across attention networks. To realize these goals, we evaluate laboratory studies of attention in humans and animals that address the underlying neurotransmitter systems, primarily norepinephrine and acetylcholine. We propose that key facts about deficits in reflexive and voluntary attention may be understood by a model that includes deficits in brain norepinephrine release and its effects on cholinergic activity in the parietal cortex.

Acetylcholine↗