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PubMed2004

fMRI studies of temporal attention: allocating attention within, or towards, time.

Attention is distributed in time as well as space. Moreover, attention can be actively directed both within, and towards, time. This review article summarises behavioural and neuroanatomical correlates of temporal aspects of attention. Orienting attention to particular moments in time, or selectively attending to temporal rather than non-temporal stimulus features, improves behavioural measures of performance. These effects are accompanied by specific increases in activity of functionally specialised, and anatomically discrete, brain regions. Left parietal cortex is associated with orienting attention to specific moments in time. Pre-supplementary motor area (SMA) is associated with selectively attending to, and estimating, time. Frontal operculum is associated with all of these processes as well as being activated when attentional resources are limited by time itself. The frontal operculum therefore plays a pivotal role in the multi-faceted interaction between time and attention.

Adrenergic alpha-Agonists↗
PubMed2003

Electrophysiological correlates of attentional orientation in humans to strong intensity deviant nociceptive stimuli, inside and outside the focus of spatial attention.

Laser evoked potentials (LEPs) are electrical brain responses to nociceptive heat stimuli. In a recent study [Legrain, V., Guérit, J.M., Bruyer, R. and Plaghki, L., Pain, 99 (2002) 21-39.], we found that amplitude at approximately 400 ms was increased by rare intensity deviant nociceptive stimuli (P400 effect). In that study, laser stimuli were randomly delivered on both hands, and subjects were focusing attention on one hand in order to detect rare stimuli. As the P400 effect was found for rare stimuli when spatial attention was directed both towards and away from the stimulated hand, it was postulated to represent a P3a component reflecting an involuntary orientation of attention to unexpected deviant stimuli. However LEPs to strong and weak intensity stimuli were averaged together and some effects could have been underestimated. So, we present a new interpretation of the P400 effect based on separate analyses of strong and weak intensity deviant stimuli. Indeed, the P400 effect was only observed for strong stimuli, and again on both attended and unattended hands. Thus, if the P400 effect reflects P3a, only strong deviant stimuli provided enough signals to induce attentional switching even when they were delivered outside the focus of spatial attention. It is suggested that attentional switching could have been triggered by neural systems having detected sharp increase of intensity. Weak deviant stimuli were not salient enough to induce attentional switching.

Attention↗
PubMed1998

ERP effects of intermodal attention and cross-modal links in spatial attention.

Effects of intermodal attention AND of cross-modal links in spatial attention on visual and auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) were investigated in two experiments where participants had to attend to one stimulus modality (audition or vision) to respond to infrequently presented targets whenever these were presented at a relevant location (indicated by a cue). The ERP effects of intermodal attention (measured by comparing the ERPs elicited by visual and auditory stimuli when the respective modality was relevant or irrelevant) were differently distributed in vision and audition, suggesting that intermodal attention operates by a selective modulation of modality-specific areas. Similar ERP effects of spatial attention (measured by comparing the ERPs to stimuli at cued and uncued locations) were elicited at midline electrodes in vision and audition. With one notable exception, these effects were also present when attention was directed within the other modality, suggesting the existence of cross-modal links between vision and audition in the control of transient spatial attention.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed2003

Contrasting two accounts of anxiety-linked attentional bias: selective attention to varying levels of stimulus threat intensity.

Previous research has established that clinical anxiety patients and nonclinical populations with high levels of anxiety vulnerability characteristically orient attention toward moderately threatening stimuli. In contrast, populations with low levels of anxiety vulnerability typically orient attention away from such stimuli. The differing experimental predictions generated by 2 classes of hypothetical explanation for this anxiety-linked attentional discrepancy were tested, using attentional probe methodology to compare the attentional responses of high and low trait anxious individuals to facial stimuli of differing threat intensities. The results support the view that all individuals orient attention away from mildly threatening stimuli and toward strongly threatening stimuli, with differences in anxiety vulnerability reflecting the intensity of stimulus threat required to elicit the attentional vigilance response.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

The role of attention in motion extrapolation: are moving objects 'corrected' or flashed objects attentionally delayed?

Objects flashed in alignment with moving objects appear to lag behind [Nijhawan, 1994 Nature (London) 370 256-257]. Could this 'flash-lag' effect be due to attentional delays in bringing flashed items to perceptual awareness [Titchener, 1908/1973 Lectures on the Elementary Psychology of Feeling and Attention first published 1908 (New York: Macmillan); reprinted 1973 (New York: Arno Press)]? We overtly manipulated attentional allocation in three experiments to address the following questions: Is the flash-lag effect affected when attention is (a) focused on a single event in the presence of multiple events, (b) distributed over multiple events, and (c) diverted from the flashed object? To address the first two questions, five rings, moving along a circular path, were presented while observers attentively tracked one or multiple rings under four conditions: the ring in which the disk was flashed was (i) known or (ii) unknown (randomly selected from the set of five); location of the flashed disk was (i) known or (ii) unknown (randomly selected from ten locations). The third question was investigated by using two moving objects in a cost-benefit cueing paradigm. An arrow cued, with 70% or 80% validity, the position of the flashed object. Observers performed two tasks: (a) reacted as quickly as possible to flash onset; (b) reported the flash-lag effect. We obtained a significant and unaltered flash-lag effect under all the attentional conditions we employed. Furthermore, though reaction times were significantly shorter for validly cued flashes, the flash-lag effect remained uninfluenced by cue validity, indicating that quicker responses to validly cued locations may be due to the shortening of post-perceptual delays in motor responses rather than the perceptual facilitation. We conclude that the computations that give rise to the flash-lag effect are independent of attentional deployment.

Attention↗
PubMed2001

Performance on the Test of Everyday Attention and standard tests of attention following severe traumatic brain injury.

The Test of Everyday Attention (TEA) was designed to address some of the limitations of established measures of attention. However, very few studies have examined its clinical utility. A group of 35 patients who had sustained a severe TBI were compared with 35 age- and education-matched controls on the TEA, Stroop, SDMT, WMS-R Digit Span, Ruff 2s and 7s Selective Attention Test, and PASAT. Of the TEA subtests, only the Map and Telephone Search subtests of the TEA produced significant differences between the two groups, suggesting a deficit in visual selective attention following TBI. Principal components analysis revealed a four-component / factor structure of attention, largely consistent with previous studies. A logistic regression found that the TEA Map Search and Modified Colour-Word subtest of the Stroop were best able to discriminate between the TBI and control groups. When the TBI group was divided into Early ( < 1 year post injury) and Late ( > 2 years post injury) groups, there was an additional deficit on the Lottery (sustained attention) subtest in the Early TBI group, indicating that there is some recovery in attentional function beyond 1 year post injury.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Assessment of attention following pre-school traumatic brain injury: a behavioural attention measure.

This study investigated attentional impairments and recovery in pre-school children following traumatic brain injury (TBI). Children aged between 3-8 years were assigned to two groups on the basis of severity of injury: (i) mild TBI and (ii) severe TBI. Children were evaluated at the acute stage postinjury (0-3 months) and again at 6 months on a range of standardized intellectual and attention measures. In addition, a specifically developed behavioural attention measure was employed. Results revealed a tendency for children with severe injuries to exhibit greater attentional impairments in the acute phase post-injury. In addition, children who sustained a severe TBI demonstrated significant recovery in attentional functioning over time. Results indicated differential recovery rates for separate components of attention. Both groups demonstrated a trend towards recovery of arousal and motivation over time, while focused attention, impulsivity and hyperactivity remained stable.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2002

Shifting attention and joint attention dissociation in Williams syndrome: implications for the cerebellum and social deficits in autism.

An experimental paradigm that assesses one's capacity to perform intermodality attention shifting has proved to be sensitive for persons with cerebellar dysfunction. The basic experiment includes three conditions, auditory focus, visual focus and shift attention. In the auditory focus condition, the participant is instructed to press a joystick button when they hear the target tone and to ignore the other tone and the two visual stimuli. In the visual focus condition, the participant is instructed to press only the button to the target colored square and to ignore the other colored square and the two tones. In the shift attention condition, the participant is instructed to press the button to the first auditory target and then to press to the next visual target. They are instructed to continue to alternate their responses between auditory and visual targets until the trial is complete. Three individuals with Williams Syndrome (WMS), a genetic disorder due to the deletion of the elastin gene, were examined under these experimental conditions. Each participant with WMS had previously completed magnetic resonance imaging, and mid-sagittal area measurements had been made of the vermal lobules I-V and VI-VII. Cases were selected on the basis of cerebellar findings: one case was hypoplastic, one was hyperplastic and one had measurements in a range within one standard deviation of average for normal controls. Each of the WMS participants showed a pattern of being impaired in being able to shift their attention rapidly when cue-to-target intervals were less than 2.5 s. Their performance was very similar to previous reports of persons with cerebellar abnormalities and persons with autism. All three participants improved their target accuracy when given more time to shift their attention. The three participants did not experience performance deficits to either long or short cue-to-target intervals in the auditory focus or visual focus conditions. The results are consistent with the presence of cerebellar dysfunction, and are the first to suggest problems with shifting attention in persons with WMS. However, the three WMS participants demonstrated normal joint attention and had none of the social deficits observed in persons with autism.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

The role of attention in affect perception: an examination of Mirsky's four factor model of attention in chronic schizophrenia.

Attentional skills among people with schizophrenia may be related to deficits in affect perception. Such deficits can dramatically inhibit appropriate social functioning. We examined attention and affect perception in a sample of 65 people diagnosed with chronic schizophrenia. We used Mirsky's four factor model of attention to assess attentional functioning. To measure affect perception, we used two reliable measures of emotion recognition, the Bell-Lysaker Emotion Recognition Test and the Face Emotion Identification Test. Multiple regression analysis showed that all four attentional factors and a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia were significantly predictive of affect perception scores. In contrast, psychiatric symptoms, medication levels, demographic variables, verbal fluency, and face recognition scores were not predictive of affect perception scores. The four factors of attention accounted for 78 percent of the variance in affect perception scores. These results emphasize the role that attentional abilities play in affect perception for people with schizophrenia.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Sensitivity and specificity of a computerized test of attention in the diagnosis of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is difficult to diagnose due to the subjectivity of its symptoms and lack of specific assessment measures. Computerized tests of attention have recently been used as objective measures that may assist in the diagnosis of the disorder. The present study evaluated consistency between the Conners Parent Rating Scale and the Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA), which is a computerized test of attention designed to identify symptoms associated with ADHD, in children clinically diagnosed with ADHD (n = 28) and controls (n = 20). Our results showed that both the Conners and the TOVA indicated significant problem areas suggestive of an attention deficit in approximately 85% of children who were clinically diagnosed with ADHD. However, the TOVA also found attentional problems in approximately 30% of control children, whereas none of the controls scored abnormally on the Conners. As computerized measures are administered more frequently, there may be a risk of overdiagnosis and treatment of "ADHD" in normal children. A combined approach using questionnaires, clinical evaluation, and computerized tests of attention in the assessment of possible ADHD may provide the most accurate means of diagnosis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Attentional capture by color without any relevant attentional set.

The aim of the present study was to investigate mechanisms underlying attentional capture by color. Previous work has shown that a color singleton is able to summon attention only in the presence of a relevant attentional set, whereas when a color singleton is not useful for a task, evidence for purely stimulus-driven attentional capture is controversial. Three visual search experiments (T-L task) were conducted using a method different from that based on set sizes, consisting of monitoring target-singleton distance in a unique display size. In Experiment 1, we demonstrated that attention can be summoned in a real stimulus-driven manner by an irrelevant color singleton. Experiment 2A extended this observation, showing that the color singleton attracted attention even when capture was detrimental. However, Experiment 2B showed that such capture can be strategically prevented. Finally, in Experiment 3, we examined whether such a capture was due to a spatial shift or to a filtering cost, providing evidence supporting the shift hypothesis. Stimulus-driven capture was observed when color was neither the defining nor the reported target attribute (Yantis, 1993) and when subjects naive of visual search tasks were used. The present results give experimental support to many contemporary models of visual attention.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Cognitive function in community-dwelling elderly women. Attentional demands and capacity to direct attention.

As individuals get older, their capacity to direct attention (CDA) appears to decline. The decline in CDA may be caused by age-related changes in the brain and demands on attentional mechanisms. These demands require older adults to expend significant attentional effort to maintain focus and achieve mental clarity while negotiating activities of daily life. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between attentional demands and CDA among a convenience sample of 72 community-dwelling older women with normal mental status. Findings indicate attentional demands correlated significantly with CDA and accounted for a significant proportion of the variance. No relationship was found between depressive symptoms and CDA. Implications for practice are nursing interventions aimed at decreasing attentional demands, thereby supporting attentional processes and functioning by community-dwelling older adults.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed2003

[Validity of attentional-style subscales for the Japanese version of the Test of Attentional and Interpersonal Style (TAIS)].

The six attentional-style subscales of the Test of Attentional and Interpersonal Style (TAIS, Nideffer, 1976) have been used mainly in the sport psychology area to investigate the relationship between attentional abilities and performance. This study assessed the validity of the Japanese version of the TAIS attentional-style subscales with 157 male and 163 female students. A confirmatory factor analysis failed to validate Nideffer's attentional dimension of bandwidth (narrow to broad attention) and direction (internal to external). The findings replicate previous studies which showed that the structure of the TAIS attention-related subscales is not reasonable and its factorial validity does not meet the needs of psychometrics.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Spatial and non-spatial attention deficits in neurodegenerative diseases: assessment based on Bundesen's theory of visual attention (TVA).

PURPOSE: The aim was to present evidence that, similarly as in neglect, a combined pattern of spatial and non-spatial deficits of visual attention can also be typically observed in patients suffering from neurodegenerative disorders. METHOD: Whole and partial report of brief letter arrays, based on Bundesen's 'theory of visual attention' (TVA), was applied in patients suffering from Huntington's disease (HD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or Alzheimer's disease (AD). TVA-based parameter estimates were derived reflecting (a) perceptual processing speed and visual working memory storage capacity as non-spatial aspects of visual attention (determined by whole report performance), and (b) spatial attentional weighting (determined by partial report performance). RESULTS: Processing speed was severely slowed in HD, and also reduced, although to a lesser degree, in MCI and AD patients. In HD and AD patients, but not in MCI patients, a strong leftward bias of spatial attention was observed. CONCLUSION: Neglect and neurodegenerative diseases both involve a similar constellation of non-spatial and spatial deficits of visual attention. Therefore, by using TVA-based measurement, results from both fields of research may fruitfully inform each other in future studies, thus improving our understanding of the interaction of spatial and non-spatial attention deficits and its behavioral consequences.

Aged↗
PubMed1998

[Electrophysiologic evaluation of passive and active attentions--II. Developmental changes of somatosensory event-related potentials in different attentive paradigms].

By somatosensory event-related potentials (SERP) we have previously demonstrated in adults that an enhanced positivity of P 250 is statistically significant at the frontal region during the active attentive state. We have also evaluated developmental changes of P 250 during different attentive states: passive and active. In this study, 30 healthy children (5-16 years of age) and six healthy adults (23-41 years) were required to perform the following four paradigms: passive attentive, active attentive, control, and oddball. SERP were recorded at Fz, Cz and Pz. In the passive attentive paradigm, P250 amplitude at Fz, Cz and Pz remained constant irrespective of age. With regard to the topography of the amplitude, however, P 250 was distributed dominantly at Pz in Group 1 (5-6 years of age) and Group 2 (7-11 years), contrary to the dominance at Cz in both Group 3 (12-16 years) and adults. In the active attentive paradigm, on the other hand, the P 250 amplitude at Fz reached its minimum at about 10 years and then increased until the adulthood. With respect to the topography of the amplitude, P 250 was distributed dominantly at Pz in Groups 1 and 2, at Cz in Group 3, and at Fz and Cz in adults. These results suggest that the topographic changes in the active attentive paradigm are dependent upon the developing abilities to expect the next stimulus and to maintain awareness.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Covert orienting of visual spatial attention in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: does comorbidity make a difference?

Attentional performance in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with and without comorbid disorders was examined using the Covert Orienting of Visuospatial Attention Task (COVAT) and the Continuous Performance Task (CPT). The relationship between these two tasks was also examined. The results showed no overall differences on the attention tasks between children with ADHD alone and those with ADHD plus other disorders. Compared to non-ADHD control children, children with ADHD showed a deficit in the disengage operation of covert visuospatial attention, suggesting a difficulty in the endogenous mode of orienting. The ADHD children also showed a general performance deficit on the CPT. Although there was a general slowing on both attention tasks in the ADHD group, there was no relationship between invalid cue effect sizes on the COVAT and the CPT measures. These results indicate that these two attention tasks may be tapping both similar and independent underlying cognitive processes in ADHD.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

[Attention and executive functions in patients with severe obesity. A controlled study using the Attention Network Test].

In this paper, attention and temperament are compared between 41 severely obese patients with psychiatric comorbidity and 45 control persons. Networks of attention were assessed by the Attention Network Test: alerting (ability to achieve and maintain an alert state), orienting (ability to orient to a stimulus), and executive attention (ability to resolve conflict). According to hypotheses, obese patients show reduced executive attention, more effortful control, and higher negative affectivity than controls. The concept of attention networks is related to cognitive mechanisms of self-regulation, opening new perspectives for understanding psychiatric disorders.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

The cognitive genetics of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): sustained attention as a candidate phenotype.

Here we describe the application of cognitive genetics to the study of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Cognitive genetics owes much to the pioneering work of cognitive neuropsychologists such as John Marshall, whose careful observations of cognitive dissociations between brain-lesioned patients greatly advanced the theoretical understanding of normal cognitive function. These theories have in turn helped to constrain linkages between candidate genes and cognitive processes and thus help to drive the relatively new field of cognitive genetics in a hypothesis-driven fashion. We examined the relationship between sustained attention deficits in ADHD and genetic variation in a catecholamine-related gene, dopamine beta hydroxylase (DbetaH). DBH encodes the enzyme that converts dopamine to noradrenaline and is crucial to catecholamine regulation. A polymorphism with the DBH gene has been associated with ADHD. In fifty-two children with ADHD, we examined whether variation in the Taq I DBH gene polymorphism was related to sustained attention performance. Participants performed the Sustained Attention to Response Test (SART). Performance on the SART discriminates ADHD from control children, and in imaging work, is associated with right frontoparietal activation. A significant effect of DBH genotype was found on SART performance measures. Children possessing two copies of the ADHD-associated risk allele (A2) had significantly poorer sustained attention than those ADHD children who did not possess this allele or a non-genotyped control group. The DBH gene may contribute to the susceptibility for ADHD, in part because of its varying effects on the development of brain mechanisms mediating sustained attention.

Adolescent↗