Attentional Processes In Children Research Articles

Attentional Processes in Children With Attentional Problems or Reading Difficulties as Revealed Using Brain Event-Related Potentials and Their Source Localization.

Visual attention-related processes include three functional sub-processes: alerting, orienting, and inhibition. We examined these sub-processes using reaction times, event-related potentials (ERPs), and their neuronal source activations during the Attention Network Test (ANT) in control children, attentional problems (AP) children, and reading difficulties (RD) children. During the ANT, electroencephalography was measured using 128 electrodes on three groups of Finnish sixth-graders aged 12–13 years (control = 77; AP = 15; RD = 23). Participants were asked to detect the direction of a middle target fish within a group of five fish. The target stimulus was either preceded by a cue (center, double, or spatial), or without a cue, to manipulate the alerting and orienting sub-processes of attention. The direction of the target fish was either congruent or incongruent in relation to the flanker fish, thereby manipulating the inhibition sub-processes of attention. Reaction time performance showed no differences between groups in alerting, orienting, and inhibition effects. The group differences in ERPs were only found at the source level. Neuronal source analysis in the AP children revealed a larger alerting effect (double-cued vs. non-cued target stimuli) than control and RD children in the left occipital lobe. Control children showed a smaller orienting effect (spatially cued vs. center-cued target stimuli) in the left occipital lobe than AP and RD children. No group differences were found for the neuronal sources related to the inhibition effect. The neuronal activity differences related to sub-processes of attention in the AP and RD groups suggest different underlying mechanisms for attentional and reading problems.

Oculomotor behavior in children with autism spectrum disorders.

To identify quantitative indicators of social communication dysfunctions, we explored the oculomotor performances in subjects with autism spectrum disorders. Discordant findings in the literature have been reported for oculomotor behavior in subjects with autism spectrum disorders. This study aimed to explore reflexive and voluntary saccadic performance in a group of 32 children with autism spectrum disorders (mean age: 12.1 ± 0.5 years) compared to 32 age-, sex-, and IQ-matched typically developing children (control group). We used different types of reflexive and voluntary saccades: gap, step, overlap, and anti-saccades. Eye movements were recorded using an eye tracker (Mobile EBT®) and we measured latency, percentage of anticipatory and express saccades, errors of anti-saccades and gain. Children with autism spectrum disorders reported similar latency values with respect to typically developing children for reflexive and voluntary saccades; in contrast, they made more express and anticipatory saccades overall, as shown in paradigm testing (gap, step, overlap, and anti-saccades). Our findings support previous evidence of the atypicality of the cortical network, which is involved in saccade triggering and attentional processes in children with autism spectrum disorders.

The Effect of Dual Task on Attentional Performance in Children With ADHD.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common psychiatric disorder without validated objective markers. Oculomotor behavior and executive motor control could potentially be used to investigate attention disorders. The aim of this study was to explore an oculomotor and postural dual task in children with ADHD. Forty-two children were included in the study, gathering children with ADHD (n = 21) (mean 8.15 age ± years 0.36) and sex-, age-, and IQ-matched typically developing children (TD). Children performed two distinct fixation tasks in three different postural conditions. Eye movements and postural body sway were recorded simultaneously, using an eye tracker and a force platform. Results showed that children with ADHD had poor fixation capability and poor postural stability when compared to TD children. Both groups showed less postural control on the unstable platform and displayed more saccades during the fixation task. Surprisingly, in the dual unstable platform/fixation with distractor task, the instability of children with ADHD was similar to that observed in TD children. “Top-down” dys-regulation mediated by frontal-striatal dysfunction could be at the origin of both poor inhibitory oculomotor deficits and impaired body stability reported in children with ADHD. Finally, we could assume that the fact both groups of children focused their attention on a secondary task led to poor postural control. In the future it could be interesting to explore further this issue by developing new dual tasks in a more ecological situation in order to gain more insight on attentional processes in children with ADHD.HIGHLIGHTS– Children with ADHD showed poor fixation capability when compared to TD children.– “Top-down” dys-regulation mediated by frontal-striatal dysfunction could be at the origin of both poor inhibitory oculomotor deficits and impaired body stability reported in children with ADHD.– Both groups of children focused their attention on the visual fixation task leading to poor postural control.– In the future it could be interesting to develop new dual tasks in an ecological situation in order to gain more insight on attentional processes in children with ADHD.

Attentional Performance, Age and Scholastic Achievement in Healthy Children

BackgroundAttentional processes in children play a critical role in daily school demands and accomplishments. Studies on the association of attentional processes with school achievement and age in healthy school children are scarce. The aim of the present study was to identify correlations between dimensions of attentional performance, scholastic achievement and age.Methodology/Principal FindingsAn extensive testing battery was used to assess a wide range of attentional dimensions. A principal component analysis revealed three factors that are related to attentional performance (distractibility, lapses of attention, cognitive speed). Age was negatively associated with distractibility, lapses of attention and cognitive speed, indicating that distractibility and lapses of attention decreased with age in healthy children and resulted in lower cognitive speed.Conclusions/SignificanceAttentional processes in healthy children should be measured in relation to distractibility, lapses of attention and cognitive speed.

Attentional Processes in Children’s Overt and Relational Aggression

This study examined attention and memory processes assumed by the social information–processing model to be biased in aggressive children. We also explored whether similar biases were associated with overt and relational aggression. A total of 96 fourth through sixth graders saw videos of overtly and relationally aggressive child actors and afterward recalled video content. Participants’ reaction times were also measured as they shifted attention from video content to neutral stimuli. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that, after controlling for processing of nonaggressive stimuli, peer-nominated relational aggression was significantly related to attention shifting and free recall for relationally aggressive videos; results were significant after controlling for overt aggression. Peer-nominated overt aggression was related to attention for overtly aggressive videos, but not when relational aggression was controlled. IQ and general attention problems did not explain results. The results suggest that relationally aggressive children are particularly fixated on relationally aggressive events, perhaps because of the socially nuanced nature of relational aggression.

Differential effects of methylphenidate and atomoxetine on attentional processes in children with ADHD: An event-related potential study using the Attention Network Test

Methylphenidate (MPH) and atomoxetine (ATX) are effective medications in the treatment of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The aim of this study was to investigate differential effects of MPH and ATX on attentional functions at the performance and the neuronal level in children with ADHD. Using the Attention Network Test (ANT), differential effects of both medications on the noradrenergic alerting network and the dopaminergic executive attention network were considered. Nineteen children with ADHD performed the ANT three times while event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. The baseline testing was conducted without medication. In two medication blocks of 8 weeks each, medication was individually titrated for each child (cross-over design, balanced order). At the end of the medication blocks the testing was repeated. While both medications comparably reduced ADHD symptomatology, MPH had some advantages over ATX with regard to performance measures on the ANT and the underlying neuronal mechanisms. Compared with ATX, MPH led to a larger reduction in reaction time variability, which was accompanied by an MPH-related increase in the contingent negative variation (CNV) compared to the baseline testing. Contrary to our expectations, specific alerting network effects were not observed with ATX. Due to the chosen study design, it remains unresolved to what extent e.g. shortened reaction times and smaller conflict scores that were observed with both medications reflect practice or medication effects. The differential pattern of MPH vs. ATX effects on attentional functions in children with ADHD may be explained by the dopaminergic effects of MPH within the cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical circuit.

Attentional processes in children with ADHD: An event-related potential study using the attention network test

A variety of event-related potential (ERP) based studies have shown differences in neuronal processes underlying attention, inhibition and error processing in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) compared to controls. However, so far there are no studies that have compared children with ADHD and typically developing (TD) children regarding effects in ERP components associated with the attention network test (ANT). The ANT allows to differentiate between three particular aspects of attention: alerting, orienting, conflict. Twenty-five children with ADHD and 19 TD children (comparable with respect to age, sex, and IQ) performed the ANT while ERPs were recorded. Based on DSM-IV, the group of children with ADHD was divided in an inattentive (ADHD in, n = 10) and a combined (ADHD com, n = 15) subgroup. On the performance level, the ADHD group showed a significantly higher variability of reaction times. Concerning ERP measures, smaller cue-P3 amplitudes were found in the ADHD group indicating that children with ADHD allocate less attentional resources for cue processing. In addition, the target-P3 in ADHD showed smaller amplitudes. Subgroup analysis revealed reduced cue-P3 amplitudes in both subgroups and reduced target-P3 amplitudes in ADHD in compared to TD children. Except for a higher alerting score in ADHD after correction for cue-P3 group differences, performance data revealed no group differences specific for the three attention networks. No group differences related to the attention networks were observed at the ERP level. Our results suggest that deviant attentional processing in children with ADHD is only partly related to ANT-specific effects. Findings are compatible with the model of a suboptimal energetic state regulation in ADHD. Furthermore, our results suggest that deviant cue processing in ADHD and related differences in task modulations should be accounted for in data analysis.

Attentional processes in young children with congenital visual impairment

The study investigated attentional processes of 32 preschool children with congenital visual impairment (VI). Children with profound visual impairment (PVI) and severe visual impairment (SVI) were compared to a group of typically developing sighted children in their ability to respond to adult directed attention in terms of establishing, maintaining, and shifting attention on toys. The measures of children's sensory-motor understanding (SMU) and language ability were obtained using the Reynell-Zinkin scales of mental development. The videorecordings of these play-based assessments were coded for three categories of behavioural responses (Establish, Maintain, and Shift). The three groups were matched on verbal comprehension (VC), but differed significantly in their SMU and their chronological age. The groups of children with PVI and SVI were found to be comparable in their ability to establish and maintain attention on objects. Despite a relatively good performance overall both groups scored significantly lower on those skills than children who were sighted. However, with regards to attention shifting, children with PVI showed significantly lower performance than both the children with SVI and the sighted children who were similar on this component. Ability to maintain and shift attention was significantly related to the cognitive ability of children with PVI; however the poorer attentional responses were not confined only to the children with low IQ. The results are discussed in relation to the role of vision, cognitive ability and executive function in attentional processes in children with congenital VI.

Clinical evaluation of attentional processes in children with benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (BCECTS)

The aim of this study was to identify the attentional processes specifically affected in children with benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (BCECTS). The impact of several factors - laterality of discharges, age-at-onset and duration of epilepsy, and medication - on these cognitive functions was also studied. A group of 29 children with BCECTS was evaluated using standardized tests performed in routine clinical practice and specifically designed to assess executive and attentional functions. This group obtained mean scores significantly lower than normative means specifically for tasks involving attention control processes, i.e. cognitive flexibility and inhibitory processes. Neither the epilepsy-related factors that we studied nor the medication appeared to influence performance of these tasks. These data suggest an impact of BCECTS on attentional processes, the most affected being attention control processes that develop late.

Study of Attentional Processes in Children With Idiopathic Epilepsy by Conners' Continuous Performance Test

Before starting antiepilepsy therapy (T1) and after 1 year (T2), 19 children (7 female) affected by focal or generalized idiopathic epilepsy were considered with the aim of studying attention performance. All of the children received a neurological examination and clinical interview, electroencephalography (EEG) in wakefulness or sleep, and a standardized computerized measure of attention (Conners' Continuous Performance Test). At T1, 21% of the patients showed a specific attention disorder, and their percentage rose to 42% after 1 year, despite complete control of seizures. The prognosis was strongly correlated with (1) the presence of active seizures for a period of over 6 months, (2) the persistence of specific interictal abnormalities on an electroencephalogram at T2, and (3) the presence of emotional and behavioral disorders at the diagnosis of epilepsy. Our results confirm that attention disorders are frequent in children with idiopathic epilepsy. The Conners' Continuous Performance Test has proven useful both for diagnosis and follow-up over time.

Effects of Similarity Grouping on Attentional Processes in Children

Effects of Similarity Grouping on Attentional Processes in Children

Effects of Similarity Grouping on Attentional Processes in Children

First and fifth graders sorted cards into 2 piles based on the orientation of a T figure. Cards did or did not contain irrelevant information: irrelevant information did or did not contrast in line slope with the target. The position of targets varied within arrays from 1 card to the next. Children at both grade levels sorted more slowly in the presence of contrasting irrelevant information relative to no irrelevant information, but younger children were slowed more that older ones when sorting in the presence of similar irrelevant information relative to contrasting irrelevant information. A second card-sorting experiment examined similar effects in a filtering task in which target position was constant from card to card. Effects were minimal for fifth graders, wheras first graders were slower in the presence of contrasting irrelevant information relative to no irrelevant information, and slower in the presence of similar as compared with contrasting irrelevant information. Processing differences underlying these results are discussed.