Assessment Of Sustained Attention Research Articles

The sustained attention to response task: Validation of a non-numerical parallel form

Many activities in daily life rely on the ability to continuously keep attention on task requirements. Patients with acquired brain injury often suffer from deficits in sustained attention that impact quality of life and complicate rehabilitation. The sustained attention to response task (SART) is a commonly used go/no-go task in the assessment of sustained attention. However, its feasibility for patients with acquired brain injury could be questioned considering deficits in alphanumerical processing following brain damage. We investigated whether a SART with sinusoidal gratings instead of digits can be used to assess sustained attention. The Gratings SART and Digits SART were administered in a random and fixed sequence to 48 cognitively healthy participants. Performance of the neurotypical individuals on the random and fixed Gratings SART was only moderately different from and correlated with performance on the random and fixed Digits SART. As a proof of concept, the SARTs were also administered to 11 cases with acquired brain injury. Performance in the random and fixed variants of both the Gratings SART and Digits SART was sensitive to cognitive impairments of cases with acquired brain injury. In conclusion, the SART with sinusoidal gratings holds promise as a tool to (re-)assess sustained attention in clinical practice. Further research is critical to investigate whether its performance accurately predicts sustained attention in daily life since we failed to find a significant correlation between performance on any of the SARTs and a self-reported measure of sustained attention.

Methylphenidate Enhances Spontaneous Fluctuations in Reward and Cognitive Control Networks in Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

BackgroundMethylphenidate, a first-line treatment for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), is thought to influence dopaminergic neurotransmission in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and its associated brain circuitry, but this hypothesis has yet to be systematically tested. MethodsWe conducted a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind crossover trial including 27 children with ADHD. Children with ADHD were scanned twice with resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging under methylphenidate and placebo conditions, along with assessment of sustained attention. We examined spontaneous neural activity in the NAc and the salience, frontoparietal, and default mode networks and their links to behavioral changes. Replicability of methylphenidate effects on spontaneous neural activity was examined in a second independent cohort. ResultsMethylphenidate increased spontaneous neural activity in the NAc and the salience and default mode networks. Methylphenidate-induced changes in spontaneous activity patterns in the default mode network were associated with improvements in intraindividual response variability during a sustained attention task. Critically, despite differences in clinical trial protocols and data acquisition parameters, the NAc and the salience and default mode networks showed replicable patterns of methylphenidate-induced changes in spontaneous activity across two independent cohorts. ConclusionsWe provide reproducible evidence demonstrating that methylphenidate enhances spontaneous neural activity in NAc and cognitive control networks in children with ADHD, resulting in more stable sustained attention. Our findings identified a novel neural mechanism underlying methylphenidate treatment in ADHD to inform the development of clinically useful biomarkers for evaluating treatment outcomes.

Mindfulness and music interventions in the workplace: assessment of sustained attention and working memory using a crowdsourcing approach

BackgroundOccupational stress has huge financial as well as human costs. Application of crowdsourcing might be a way to strengthen the investigation of occupational mental health. Therefore, the aim of the study was to assess Danish employees’ stress and cognition by relying on a crowdsourcing approach, as well as investigating the effect of a 30-day mindfulness and music intervention.MethodsWe translated well-validated neuropsychological laboratory- and task-based paradigms into an app-based platform using cognitive games measuring sustained attention and working memory and measuring stress via. Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale. A total of 623 healthy volunteers from Danish companies participated in the study and were randomized into three groups, which consisted of a 30-day intervention of either mindfulness or music, or a non-intervention control group.ResultsParticipants in the mindfulness group showed a significant improvement in the coefficient of sustained attention, working memory capacity and perceived stress (p < .001). The music group showed a 38% decrease of self-perceived stress. The control group showed no difference from pre to post in the survey or cognitive outcome measures. Furthermore, there was a significant correlation between usage of the mindfulness and music app and elevated score on both the cognitive games and the perceived stress scale.ConclusionThe study supports the nascent field of crowdsourcing by being able to replicate data collected in previous well-controlled laboratory studies from a range of experimental cognitive tasks, making it an effective alternative. It also supports mindfulness as an effective intervention in improving mental health in the workplace.

The attention skills of boys with and without developmental delays: associations with academic performance

Our study investigated the role of attention skills in the academic performance of 20 boys with developmental delays (DDs) and 20 boys without delays. Children's attention abilities were estimated from their performance on a novel assessment of sustained attention, as well as teacher reports of attention in the classroom. Children with DDs had slower reaction times, lower hit rates, higher errors of omission, and lower perceptual sensitivity on the attention task. However, the two groups did not differ on proportion of errors of commission. Participants’ teachers also rated boys with DDs as having greater attention problems and lower academic performance than boys without delays. Attention skills moderated the relation between developmental status and academic performance. The academic performance of children without delays was higher when they had higher attention skills. The academic performance of children with delays did not appear to differ based on their attention skills.

Assessment of sustained attention in ad libitum fed Wistar rats: Effects of MK-801

Rationale Rodent models designed to assess cognitive function, such as sustained attention tasks, use food and/or fluid restriction in order to motivate responding. However, evidence indicates that dietary restriction can have profound effects on brain function and on the neurobehavioral effects of drugs. Objective The primary objective of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility of using ad libitum fed rats to assess sustained attention in an operant 2-choice reaction time (2-CRT) task. Because N-methyl- d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor function is critical for sustaining attention in animal models, the effects of the NMDA antagonist MK-801 on 2-CRT performance were also assessed. Methods Male Wistar rats ( n = 20) rats were trained to perform an operant 2-CRT task. A 10% sucrose solution was used as the reinforcer. After performance levels stabilized, the effects of MK-801 (0.01–0.12 mg/kg, IP) were assessed. Results Stable levels of performance on the final version of the 2-CRT task was established after 2–3 months of training. Consistent with prior reports, correct trials varied as a function of stimulus light duration (1000 ms: 67 ± 3%, 500 ms: 59 ± 3%, 100 ms: 51 ± 3%, 50 ms: 43 ± 2%). Administration of 0.06 mg/kg MK-801 significantly increased choice accuracy. Administration of 0.12 mg/kg MK-801 significantly slowed reaction times and resulted in pronounced motor incoordination. Conclusions This study demonstrates that ad libitum fed rats can be trained to perform a 2-CRT task. However, the levels of choice accuracy are lower than typically observed under conditions of dietary restriction. The increase in choice accuracy following MK-801 is consistent with the effects of psychomotor stimulants and may suggest sustained attention was slightly enhanced by MK-801.

Time-related changes in task performance after lesions restricted to the frontal cortex

Behavioural studies in patients and functional neuroimaging studies in normal subjects suggest that the right frontal cortex plays an important role in sustaining attention to a task. However, the contribution of different regions of the frontal lobe to performance changes has not been clearly established. First, the assessment of sustained attention has not been carried out in patients with lesions that are restricted to cortical regions of the frontal lobe. Second, although sustained attention is often measured by performance on a task requiring effortful attention, it may be more meaningful to measure changes in performance as a function of time-on-task. Two studies were carried out in five groups of subjects: patients with left or right frontal cortical resections, patients with left or right anterior temporal lobe resections, and normal controls. In the first experiment, a brief (4-min) selective attention task was performed. The right frontal group, unlike the other groups, did not show improved reaction times after the first minute on the task. The second experiment involved a long (30-min) shifting attention task. Both the left and right frontal groups were slower than control groups; however, reaction times in the right frontal group increased with time spent on the task. We conclude that the right frontal cortex plays an essential role in modulating arousal during performance of a task and may also underlie aspects of learning during the early stages of task performance.

The concurrent assessment of sustained attention and concept formation in remitted schizophrenics: Performance scores and signal detection indices

The concurrent assessment of sustained attention and concept formation in remitted schizophrenics: Performance scores and signal detection indices

Assessment of sustained attention and distraction in children using a classroom analogue task

The diagnosis of childhood hyperactivity has changed from a focus on motor behavior to an emphasis on attentional deficits. As a consequence, the assessment of attentional problems has taken on greater importance. There is no standard method for assessing attentional deficit in an ecologically valid manner which has met with general acceptance. In this study, an attentional task (ANALOGUE) which simulates classroom stimuli was evaluated with regard to concurrent and discriminant validity. The target sample consisted of 29 boys, ages 7 to 9, who were diagnosed ADDH. ANALOGUE, which is a task similar to academic work, was administered while potentially distracting classroom stimuli were presented on a video monitor. Four variables were assessed during distraction and non‐distraction conditions: Number of problems completed correctly, time on task, time looking at video monitor, and number of head turns. Interobserver reliability coefficients for the latter three measures were .99, .99, and. 71, respectively. Measures for ANALOGUE were significantly correlated with two other attentional measures (Continous Performance Test and Span of Apprehension) and with teacher evaluations of classroom attentional problems. The ADDH group and comparison group of 13 nohclinic children matched on age, sex, and SES differed significantly on the basis of ANALOGUE scores under distraction and non‐distraction conditions. The findings for ANALOGUE were discussed in terms of implications for improved assessment and understanding of children's attentional problems.

Assessment of Sustained Attention and Distraction in Children Using a Classroom Analogue Task

Assessment of Sustained Attention and Distraction in Children Using a Classroom Analogue Task