Abstract
Sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) is a kind of attentional symptoms characterized by symptoms of slowness in behavior or in thinking. The aim of the present study was to develop a preliminary attention training program based on real-time eye-gaze feedback using an eye-tracker. A total of 38 participants with SCT were randomly assigned to one of following two conditions: eye-feedback (N = 19; Mean Age = 21.21; range 18–26) or control (N = 19; Mean Age = 20.68; range 18–25). The participants in the eye-feedback condition received three repeated trainings on the modified version of the Posner's spatial cueing test; we also used real-time constant eye-gaze feedback designed to lead the participants to quickly and accurately engage and to disengage, with pre- and post- measurement of eye-movements (overt attention) and the revised attention network test (ANT-R; covert attention). The participants in the control condition received three repeated same trainings without any feedback, with pre- and post-measurement of eye-movements measure and ANT-R. The results revealed that the eye-feedback group showed a greater improvement in engaging and disengaging attention through the overt attention measure than the control group. The eye-feedback group also showed a greater increase only in the orienting network related to disengaging attention in the covert attention measure compared to the control group. These results suggested that the eye-feedback can be meaningfully used in attention training to enhance the efficiency of attention in clinical settings.
Highlights
Sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) is a kind of attentional construct characterized by symptoms of slowness in behavior or in thinking, difficulty initiating and sustaining effort, hypoactivity, daydreaming, forgetfulness, and confusion in thinking [1, 2]
Those individuals with SCT who were assigned to the eye-feedback condition showed more improvement in engaging and disengaging their attention using the measurement of eye-movements than those in the control condition
The major finding of the present study is that attention training based on eye-feedback could enhance both engagement and disengagement of overt attention in individuals with SCT
Summary
SCT is a kind of attentional construct characterized by symptoms of slowness in behavior or in thinking, difficulty initiating and sustaining effort, hypoactivity, daydreaming, forgetfulness, and confusion in thinking [1, 2]. Despite the growing body of research on the treatment for SCT symptoms using pharmacological and behavioral treatments [3, 4], there remains a need for research of intervention targeting attentional difficulties among individuals with SCT. The underlying mechanism in SCT remains unknown, it has been suggested that SCT is not primarily a disorder of executive functioning such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); rather, it is associated with poor efficiency in orienting network [5, 6]. Attention training was found to be more effective for individuals with attentional problem such as ADHD, brain injury, and schizophrenia, when it was adaptive condition, and when it targeted the orienting networks [7, 12]
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