Executive Control Of Attention Research Articles

Identifying ADHD-Related Abnormal Functional Connectivity with a Graph Convolutional Neural Network.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that is characterized by inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. The neural mechanisms underlying ADHD remain inadequately understood, and current approaches do not well link neural networks and attention networks within brain networks. Our objective is to investigate the neural mechanisms related to attention and explore neuroimaging biological tags that can be generalized within the attention networks. In this paper, we utilized resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data to examine the differential functional connectivity network between ADHD and typically developing individuals. We employed a graph convolutional neural network model to identify individuals with ADHD. After classification, we visualized brain regions with significant contributions to the classification results. Our results suggest that the frontal, temporal, parietal, and cerebellar regions are likely the primary areas of dysfunction in individuals with ADHD. We also explored the relationship between regions of interest and attention networks, as well as the connection between crucial nodes and the distribution of positively and negatively correlated connections. This analysis allowed us to pinpoint the most discriminative brain regions, including the right orbitofrontal gyrus, the left rectus gyrus and bilateral insula, the right inferior temporal gyrus and bilateral transverse temporal gyrus in the temporal region, and the lingual gyrus of the occipital lobe, multiple regions of the basal ganglia and the upper cerebellum. These regions are primarily involved in the attention executive control network and the attention orientation network. Dysfunction in the functional connectivity of these regions may contribute to the underlying causes of ADHD.

Self-Regulation and Academic Learning in Preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Links to School Engagement and Levels of Autism Characteristics.

Children with autism spectrum disorder often demonstrate self-regulation challenges and academic difficulties. Although self-regulation has been well documented as an important factor for academic achievement in neurotypical children, little is known about how it is related to academic learning in autistic children, especially during preschool, a critical developmental period for both emergent academic skills and self-regulatory abilities. It is also unclear whether school engagement or autism characteristics influence the relation between self-regulation and academic learning in autistic children during preschool. Thirty-two autistic preschoolers participated in this study. Direct measures and parent reports were used to measure three dimensions of self-regulation, including executive function, effortful control, and emotion regulation. Classroom-based data from multiple academic programs were used to reflect their average rates of achieving new literacy and mathematics learning goals. Teachers reported the participants' levels of school engagement, and their autism characteristics were measured directly. Emotion regulation was significantly linked to the rate of meeting literacy learning goals in autistic preschoolers, whereas multiple executive function skills, including inhibitory and attentional control and working memory, were associated with their mathematics learning rate. Emotion regulation demonstrated a stronger association with literacy learning when autistic children were more engaged in classroom activities. Levels of autism characteristics did not mediate or moderate the association between self-regulation and academic learning. Future interventions and teaching should consider fostering self-regulation and facilitating school engagement for autistic preschoolers besides targeting their learning performance on specific academic content to promote their current and future academic success.

The Effect of Musical Environments on Designers' Attention: Persistent Music Listening Interferes with Attention.

Research indicates that music can influence human cognitive functions. Diverse musical settings can affect alertness, orientation, and executive control of attention in various populations. Exploring the relationship between designers with highly creative thinking and music environments can provide new research perspectives for the cognitive field. A total of 94 students, consisting of 61 design majors and 33 non-design majors, completed the Attention Network Test (ANT) on a computer under three test environments: cheerful music, melancholic music, and silence. The study results indicated that the alerting network effect between the design professional group and the control group was marginally significant. However, there were no significant differences between the groups in the orienting subsystem and the executive control subsystem. Within the design professional group, the attentional network data indicated that participants showed improved performance in alerting and orienting attention in a music-free environment compared to cheerful and melancholic music environments (pa = 0.028, po = 0.008). Nevertheless, executive control attention did not show significant differences across the music environments. In conclusion, existing research confirms that designers are more susceptible to distraction from external stimuli; thus, music-free environments assist them in concentrating.

Empathy interacts with second language proficiency to modify executive control of attention to social information.

Empathy interacts with second language proficiency to modify executive control of attention to social information.

85 Performance Consistency on a Measure of Sustained and Selective Attention

Objective:Attention concerns, particularly difficulties with focusing and regulating attention, are reported in diverse clinical contexts. The Ruff 2&7 Selective Attention Test (Ruff 2&7; Ruff & Allen, 1996) is a measure of sustained and selective attention that assesses automatic detection and effortful processing. The goal of this study was to create an internal consistency metric within this test and to determine cognitive predictors by evaluating associations with executive control of attention and other cognitive skills. It was hypothesized that those who are more consistent across Ruff 2&7 performance would have more robust executive functioning skills, particularly those related to regulating and directing attention and the planning and utilization of cognitive resources.Participants and Methods:The current study examined a clinical sample of 98 United States veterans with a history of mild traumatic brain injury. After excluding invalid cases (n=24), the final sample consisted of 74 veterans (Age=38.5 (8.9) years old; 13.9 (2.2) years of education; 78% male; 82% white, 7% Black, 8% Hispanic, 2% Asian). A consistency score was defined as the absolute value of the intertrial change in target hits plus errors across each pair of trials of the same stimulus type (Automatic Detection, AD, and Controlled Search, CS). Hierarchical linear regression modeling was used to evaluate the relative contributions of memory and executive functions (Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System Tower Test, phonemic fluency, Trail Making Test B) and subjective symptom report (PTSD Checklist for DSM-5, Barkley Adult ADHD Rating Scale for DSM-IV).Results:The mean deviation scores for the two trial types were similar (AD mean=13.6, SD=5.9; CS mean=13.6, SD=5.3). In predicting consistency across AD trials, delayed recall contributed 11% unique variance (p=.013), while no other block was statistically significant. For CS trials, self-reported PTSD and inattention symptoms contributed a combined 20% of unique variance to the model (p=.007), while there were no statistically significant cognitive predictors in this model.Conclusions:Contrary to expectation, executive function measures did not explain statistically significant variance in performance across either trial type. Less consistent performance on AD trials was associated with weaker verbal memory. Less consistent performance on CS trials, which theoretically require greater executive control, was not associated with any cognitive scores, but was associated with more severe self-reported psychological and inattention symptoms. These findings buttress the conceptual distinction between AD and CS trial types, and they point to both cognitive and non-cognitive underpinnings of performance consistency.

Executive Functions and Theory of Mind in Teachers and Non-Teachers

Human teaching is a key behavior for the socialization of cultural knowledge. Previous studies suggest that human teaching behavior would support the development of executive and ToM skills, which in turn would refine the teaching behavior. Given this connection, it raises the question of whether subjects with professional training in teaching also have more efficient executive and ToM systems. To shed light on this issue, in the present study we compared the performance of professional teachers (N = 20, age range = 35–61 years) with a matched control group of non-teachers (N = 20, age range: 29–64 years) on tasks measuring working memory (Sternberg Task), cognitive flexibility (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test), executive control (Attention Network Test), along with online ToM skills (Frith–Happé Animations Task), emotion recognition (Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test) and first-order and second-order ToM (Yoni Task). We found that teachers were significantly more accurate on tasks involving cognitive flexibility (p = .014) and working memory (p = .040), and more efficient on tasks requiring executive control of attention (p = .046), compared to non-teachers. In ToM tasks, differences in accuracy between teachers and non-teachers were not found. But, teachers were slower to respond than non-teachers (about 2 s difference) on tasks involving emotion recognition (p = .0007) and the use of second-order affective ToM (p = .006). Collectively, our findings raise an interesting link between professional teaching and the development of cognitive skills critical for decision-making in challenging social contexts such as the classroom. Future research could explore ways to foster teachers' strengths in cognitive flexibility, working memory, and executive control of attention to enhance teaching strategies and student learning outcomes. Additionally, exploring factors behind slower response times in affective ToM tasks can guide teacher-training programs focused on interpersonal skills and improve teacher-student interactions.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), cognitive control, and perceived seizure control in patients with epilepsy: An exploratory study

Epilepsy is often linked to various psychiatric symptoms, with anxiety, depression, and interictal dysphoric disorders being the most prevalent. Few studies have investigated posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in epilepsy, but they suggest a notable prevalence of PTSD. PTSD is known to be associated with cognitive impairments, particularly memory and executive functions.Our proposed exploratory study aims to investigate executive attentional control and emotional inhibition in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE) who exhibit PTSD symptoms compared with a healthy control group. Additionally, some PWE can manage their seizures using emotional and cognitive strategies, we find it relevant to explore the connection between their regulation abilities, cognitive control performance, and PTSD symptoms.We included 54 PWE and 60 healthy participants. They completed anxiety and depression scales as well as two questionnaires assessing PTSD symptoms and a questionnaire that measured the perceived self-control of seizures. We measured executive control using an executive control task (Attention Network Test, ANT) and an emotional Go/No-Go task. We found a positive correlation between PTSD scores (PDS-5) and performance at the ANT task. In contrast, in the emotional inhibition (Go/No-Go) task, behavioral inhibition errors were positively correlated with PTSD scores, specifically with hypervigilance symptoms in PTSD+ patients. There was a positive correlation between response reaction times in an aversive condition and PTSD scores: the more severe the PTSD symptoms, the faster the PWE identified stimuli in the angry face condition of the Go/No-Go task. Regarding perceived seizure control, we found correlations between alertness and PTSD symptoms associated with seizure anticipation during the inter- and peri-ictal periods. Patients with PTSD symptoms reported better seizure control.Our findings suggest that epilepsy patients with PTSD experience cognitive changes such as heightened executive attentional control, weakened emotional inhibition, and improved seizure control perception.

The Modulatory Effects of Atomoxetine on Aberrant Connectivity During Attentional Processing in Cocaine Use Disorder

BackgroundCocaine use disorder is associated with cognitive deficits that reflect dysfunctional processing across neural systems. Because there are currently no approved medications, treatment centers provide behavioral interventions that have only short-term efficacy. This suggests that behavioral interventions are not sufficient by themselves to lead to the maintenance of abstinence in patients with cocaine use disorder. Self-control, which includes the regulation of attention, is critical for dealing with many daily challenges that would benefit from medication interventions that can ameliorate cognitive neural disturbances. MethodsTo address this important clinical gap, we conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design study in patients with cocaine use disorder (n = 23) and healthy control participants (n = 28). We assessed the modulatory effects of acute atomoxetine (40 mg) on attention and conflict monitoring and their associated neural activation and connectivity correlates during performance on the Eriksen flanker task. The Eriksen flanker task examines basic attentional processing using congruent stimuli and the effects of conflict monitoring and response inhibition using incongruent stimuli, the latter of which necessitates the executive control of attention. ResultsWe found that atomoxetine improved task accuracy only in the cocaine group but modulated connectivity within distinct brain networks in both groups during congruent trials. During incongruent trials, the cocaine group showed increased task-related activation in the right inferior frontal and anterior cingulate gyri, as well as greater network connectivity than the control group across treatments. ConclusionsThe findings of the current study support a modulatory effect of acute atomoxetine on attention and associated connectivity in cocaine use disorder.

Preliminary evidence comparing three auditory attention network tests in people with aphasia and matched controls

ABSTRACT Background The Attention Network Test (ANT) was initially developed to measure three types of attention, alerting attention, orienting attention, and executive control attention, using a single cued-flanker task. Its use has since been extended into the auditory modality where an auditory-spatial ANT revealed that auditory alerting and orienting attention were impaired in people with aphasia (PWA). However, there are a few limitations that may preclude the auditory-spatial ANT from future use with PWA. Aims The purpose of this study was to compare the ability of three auditory ANTs to measure alerting attention, orienting attention, and executive control attention in PWA and matched controls, with the final goal being to identify one task to refine in future studies. We hypothesized that all three tasks would measure alerting attention, orienting attention, and executive control attention in the control group. We further expected group differences such that the aphasia group would benefit less from the alerting and orienting cues, and experience greater executive control costs than the control group. Methods & Procedures Seventeen PWA and 20 matched controls completed three auditory ANTs. The auditory ANTs used the same cues to measure alerting attention and orienting attention, however they differed on the tasks used to measure executive control attention. Two executive control tasks were pitch discrimination tasks: participants decided if the target word (Auditory Stroop ANT) or tone (Auditory Pitch ANT) was high or low in pitch. The third executive control task was a temporal discrimination task: participants decided if the target tone was short or long in duration (Auditory Duration ANT). Outcomes & Results All three auditory ANTs measured executive control attention. However, only the Auditory Pitch and Duration ANTs measured alerting attention and no task measured orienting attention. Group and task also interacted within executive control attention; the Auditory Duration ANT was the only task to meaningfully distinguish the aphasia group’s executive control attention from the control groups’. Conclusions Our results suggest that the Auditory Duration ANT may have the greatest clinical utility of the three auditory ANTs trialed. However, further work is needed to optimize the Auditory Duration ANT for clinical use.

Selective Attentional Networks Deficits in Parents of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Evidence From Attention Network Test.

We primarily aimed to investigate the attention network function among parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using the Attention Network Test (ANT). The secondary objective was to observe whether the three attention networks of all participants were related to each other. We included 28 parents of children with ASD and 28 well-matched parents of typically developing children. All participants underwent the neuropsychological assessment and ANT test. The three distinct attention networks, including alerting, orienting, and executive control, were also measured. Compared with controls, parents of children with ASD showed less-efficient alerting and executive control network (all p<0.05), but not orienting network (p=0.74). No significant correlation was found between the alerting, orienting, and executive control network for either group. Our findings showed that parents of children with ASD had deficits in alerting and executive control attention functions. The deficits are indications of a broad autism phenotype.

How attention factors into executive function in preschool children.

Executive Function consists of self-regulation processes which underlie our ability to plan, coordinate, and complete goal-directed actions in our daily lives. While attention is widely considered to be central to the emergence and development of executive function during early childhood, it is not clear if it is integral or separable from other executive function processes. Previous studies have not addressed this question satisfactorily because executive function and attention are multidimensional constructs, but they are often studied without differentiating the specific processes that are tested. Moreover, some studies consist of only one task per process, making it difficult to ascertain if the pattern of results is attributable to different processes or more simply to task variance. The main aim of this study was to more fully investigate how attention factored into the underlying structure of executive function in preschool children. Preschool children (n = 137) completed a battery of tasks which included executive function (i.e., response inhibition, working memory) and attentional control (i.e., sustained attention, selective attention) processes; there were two tasks per process. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were conducted to test which of three models fit the data best: (1) a unitary one-factor model with attention loading onto the same factor as other executive function processes, (2) a two-factor model with attention loading onto a separate factor than other executive function processes, or (3) a three-factor model with attention, response inhibition, and working memory as separate factors. Fit indices and model comparisons indicated that the two-factor model fit the data best, suggesting that attentional control and executive function were related, but separable. Although this study is not the first to advocate for a two-factor model during the preschool years, it is the first to suggest that the two factors are attentional control and executive function, not working memory and response inhibition. One important implication of these findings is that a complete assessment of executive function during the preschool years necessitates measuring not only response inhibition and working memory, but attentional control as well.

The Role of Executive Function in Reading Development and Reading Intervention

AbstractThe current review of the role of executive function (EF) in reading provides a brief summary of analyses with a large‐scale longitudinal dataset and a meta‐analysis, along with proposing a framework for designing EF training studies. The 1st study, based on latent growth models with structured residuals, demonstrated a longitudinal reciprocal relation between reading and EF in Grades 2–5, but only for high‐performing students and not for the general population sample or those with reading difficulties. The 2nd study, based on meta‐profiling analysis and meta‐analytical structural equation modeling of 378 studies, showed unique contributions of EF to reading difficulties after controlling for language skills and suggested a reading difficulty‐EF deficit vicious cycle with development. The 3rd component of this review describes a framework for a domain‐specific approach to intervention. Based on the findings of these studies, I propose that working memory training tasks should closely link the central executive (attentional control) with the use of long‐term memory through retrieval practice in a specific academic domain, and training tasks should promote strategy use that can be effectively applied (i.e., transferred) to different academic tasks.

Effects of COVID-19 on cognition and mood after hospitalization and at 2-month follow-up.

A plethora of evidence links SARS-CoV-2 infection with concomitant cognitive dysfunction, which often persists weeks to months after the acute stages of illness and affects executive function, attention, memory, orientation, and movement control. It remains largely unclear which conditions or factors exacerbate the recovery. In a cohort of N=37 Slovenian patients (5 females, aged M = 58, SD = 10.7 years) that were hospitalized because of COVID-19, the cognitive function and mood states were assessed immediately after discharge and 2-months later to investigate the early post-COVID recovery changes. We assessed the global Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Simple and Choice Reaction Times, executive functions (Trail-Making Test - TMT-A and TMT-B), short-term memory (Auditory Verbal Learning Test - AVLT), and visuospatial memory. We monitored depressive and anxiety symptoms and applied general self-efficacy and cognitive complaints questionnaires. Our results showed a global cognitive impairment (MoCA, Z = 332.5; p = 0.012), poorer performance on executive functions (TMT-A, Z = 188; p = 0.014; and TMT-B, Z = 185; p = 0.012), verbal memory (AVLT, F = 33.4; p < 0.001), and delayed recall (AVLT7, F = 17.1; p < 0.001), and higher depressive (Z = 145; p = 0.015) and anxiety (Z = 141; p = 0.003) symptoms after hospital discharge compared to 2-month follow-up, indicating that SARS-CoV-2 may transiently impair cognitive function and adversely affect the mood. No improvement in MoCA was observed in 40.5% of the patients at follow-up, indicating possible long-term effects of COVID-19 on global cognitive performance. Medical comorbidities (p = 0.035) significantly predicted the change in MoCA score over time, while fat mass (FM, p = 0.518), Mediterranean diet index (p = .0.944), and Florida Cognitive Activities Score (p = 0.927) did not. These results suggest that the patients' medical comorbidities at the time of SARS-CoV-2 infection could importantly contribute to the acute impairment of cognitive function and stress the importance of systemic implementation of countermeasures to limit the negative consequences on public health.

Happy and sad music acutely modulate different types of attention in older adults.

Of the three subtypes of attention outlined by the attentional subsystems model, alerting (vigilance or arousal needed for task completion) and executive control (the ability to inhibit distracting information while completing a goal) are susceptible to age-related decline, while orienting remains relatively stable. Yet, few studies have investigated strategies that may acutely maintain or promote attention in typically aging older adults. Music listening may be one potential strategy for attentional maintenance as past research shows that listening to happy music characterized by a fast tempo and major mode increases cognitive task performance, likely by increasing cognitive arousal. The present study sought to investigate whether listening to happy music (fast tempo, major mode) impacts alerting, orienting, and executive control attention in 57 middle and older-aged adults (M = 61.09 years, SD = 7.16). Participants completed the Attention Network Test (ANT) before and after listening to music rated as happy or sad (slow tempo, minor mode), or no music (i.e., silence) for 10 min. Our results demonstrate that happy music increased alerting attention, particularly when relevant and irrelevant information conflicted within a trial. Contrary to what was predicted, sad music modulated executive control performance. Overall, our findings indicate that music written in the major mode with a fast tempo (happy) and minor mode with a slow tempo (sad) modulate different aspects of attention in the short-term.

Supplemental Material for Empathy Interacts with Second Language Proficiency to Modify Executive Control of Attention to Social Information

Supplemental Material for Empathy Interacts with Second Language Proficiency to Modify Executive Control of Attention to Social Information

Differences in right hemisphere fNIRS activation associated with executive network during performance of the lateralized attention network tast by elite, expert and novice ice hockey athletes

ObjectiveWe investigated brain activity associated with executive control attention network in elite, expert, and novice female ice hockey athletes during the revised lateralized attention network tast to determine whether the neural correlates of performance differ by skill level. MethodsWe collected and analyzed functional near-infrared spectroscopy data of 38 participants while performing the revised lateralized attention network tast. ResultsElite players were significantly faster than novices (p = .005), and the experts’ overall accuracy rate (ACC) was higher than that of novices (p = .001). The effect of the executive network on reaction time was higher in novices than in elite players (p = .008) and experts (p = .004). The effect of the executive network on the ACC was lower in elite players than in experts (p = .009) and novices (p = .010). Finally, elite player had higher flanker conflict effects on RT (p = .005) under the invalid cue condition. the effect of the alertness network and orientation on the ACC was lower in elite players than in novices (p = .000) and experts (p = .022). Changes in the blood oxygen level-dependent signal related to the flanker effect were significantly different in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (F=3.980, p = .028) and right inferior frontal gyrus (F=3.703, p = .035) among the three groups. Elit players showed more efficient executive control (reduced conflict effect on ACC) (p = .006)in the RH.The changes related to the effect of blood oxygen level on orienting were significantly different in the right frontal eye fields (F=3.883, p = .030) among the three groups, Accompanied by significant activation of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex(p = .026). ConclusionOur findings provide partial evidence of the superior cognitive performance and high neural efficiency of elite ice hockey players during cognitive tasks. These results demonstrate the right hemisphere superiority for executive control.We also found that specific brain activation in hockey players does not show a clear and linear relationship with skill level.

Individual differences in attentional control predict working memory capacity in adults who stutter

PurposePrior research has suggested that people who stutter exhibit differences in some working memory tasks, particularly when more phonologically complex stimuli are used. This study aimed to further specify working memory differences in adults who stutter by not only accounting for linguistic demands of the stimuli but also individual differences in attentional control and experimental influences, such as concomitant processing requirements. MethodThis study included 40 adults who stutter and 42 adults who do not stutter who completed the Attention Network Test (ANT; Fan et al., 2002) and three complex span working memory tasks: the Operation Span (OSPAN), Rotation Span, and Symmetry Span (Draheim et al., 2018; Foster et al., 2015; Unsworth et al., 2005, 2009). All complex span tasks were dual-tasks and varied in linguistic content in task stimuli. ResultsWorking memory capacities demonstrated by adults who stutter paralleled the hierarchy of linguistic content across the three complex span tasks, with statistically significant between-group differences in working memory capacity apparent in the task with the highest linguistic demand (i.e., OSPAN). Individual differences in attentional control in adults who stutter also significantly predicted working memory capacity on the OSPAN. DiscussionFindings from this study extend existing working memory research in stuttering by showing that: (1) significant working memory differences are present between adults who stutter and adults who do not stutter even using relatively simple linguistic stimuli in dual-task working memory conditions; (2) adults who stutter with stronger executive control of attention demonstrate working memory capacity more comparable to adults who do not stutter on the OSPAN compared to adults who stutter with lower executive control of attention.

Directed information flow during laparoscopic surgical skill acquisition dissociated skill level and medical simulation technology

Virtual reality (VR) simulator has emerged as a laparoscopic surgical skill training tool that needs validation using brain–behavior analysis. Therefore, brain network and skilled behavior relationship were evaluated using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) from seven experienced right-handed surgeons and six right-handed medical students during the performance of Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS) pattern of cutting tasks in a physical and a VR simulator. Multiple regression and path analysis (MRPA) found that the FLS performance score was statistically significantly related to the interregional directed functional connectivity from the right prefrontal cortex to the supplementary motor area with F (2, 114) = 9, p < 0.001, and R2 = 0.136. Additionally, a two-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) found a statistically significant effect of the simulator technology on the interregional directed functional connectivity from the right prefrontal cortex to the left primary motor cortex (F (1, 15) = 6.002, p = 0.027; partial η2 = 0.286) that can be related to differential right-lateralized executive control of attention. Then, MRPA found that the coefficient of variation (CoV) of the FLS performance score was statistically significantly associated with the CoV of the interregionally directed functional connectivity from the right primary motor cortex to the left primary motor cortex and the left primary motor cortex to the left prefrontal cortex with F (2, 22) = 3.912, p = 0.035, and R2 = 0.262. This highlighted the importance of the efference copy information from the motor cortices to the prefrontal cortex for postulated left-lateralized perceptual decision-making to reduce behavioral variability.

Inhibitory control as a significant predictor of academic performance in Chinese high schoolers

ABSTRACT Studies investigating the relationship between cognitive function and academic performance have recently shifted focus from differences in intelligence to executive function. To date, these studies have focused disproportionately on samples recruited from Western countries, despite evidence in support of cultural differences in the development of executive function. To address this gap, the present study investigated whether differences in two dimensions of executive function, inhibitory and attentional control, could predict academic performance in a sample of Chinese adolescents (n = 42). Participants reported on demographic details and completed both the Simon task and Attention Network Test. Data were analyzed using multiple linear regression controlling for gender, age, SES, English language proficiency, processing speed, and fluid intelligence. Results showed that one index of inhibitory control derived from non-cue trials on the Attention Network Test explained a significant amount of unique variance in academic performance. Our findings provide evidence that executive function, specifically inhibitory control, plays a significant role in academic performance.

Individual differences in executive attention and inhibitory control are related to spatial memory biases in adults.

Executive attention is involved in working memory; however, the role of executive attention in the maintenance of information in spatial working memory is debated. This study examined whether inhibitory control was related to spatial working memory biases in adults in a simple spatial memory task where participants had to remember one location on an otherwise blank computer screen. On some trials, a distractor was presented during the maintenance period. Eighty-four participants completed the spatial working memory task and a battery of cognitive control measures. When a distractor was presented during the maintenance period of the spatial memory task, performance on two of the cognitive control measures, a measure of overall attention and a measure of inhibitory control was related to memory errors. When a distractor was not presented during the spatial memory task, memory errors were not related to performance on the cognitive control tasks. Overall, these effects demonstrated that attention is related to maintaining locations in spatial working memory in adults, and inhibitory control may also be related such that those with more efficient inhibitory control were less influenced by distractors presented during the maintenance period.