Attention Flexibility Research Articles

Attentional flexibility and prioritization improves long-term memory

Recent evidence suggests the focus of attention (FoA) is a flexible resource within working memory (WM) used to temporarily maintain some information in a highly accessible state. This flexibility comes at the expense of other representations, demonstrating a resource trade-off in WM maintenance. The present experiments evaluate how flexibility within the FoA impacts long-term memory (LTM) for semantically meaningful information. A WM probe-recognition task was used in which two items were presented in black and a single item was presented in red. To encourage the prioritization and uninterrupted preferential maintenance of specific items, a process we call online refreshing, the red item was associated with a greater point-reward value than were the black items. This WM task was followed by a surprise delayed LTM test. In Experiment 1, the FoA flexibly adjusted to maintain non-recent semantic information with evidence for a resource trade-off across list positions. Flexibility also directly improved LTM. In Experiment 2, reward value was equated across red and black items to evaluate whether an alternative explanation, distinctiveness of encoding, could account for the LTM findings. When reward value was equated, the cued item did not encourage flexible orienting of the FoA toward non-recent items and there was no benefit of the distinct red item on LTM performance. While supportive of past research, these data further demonstrate that semantic information can be flexibly prioritized at the expense of other list positions and that this is directly tied to improvements in LTM.

Association Between Motor Subtype and Visuospatial and Executive Function in Mild-Moderate Parkinson Disease

ObjectiveTo compare participants with Parkinson disease (PD) motor subtypes, postural instability and gait difficulty (PIGD) (n=46) and tremor dominant (TD) (n=28), in cognitive and motor-cognitive assessments with the purpose of identifying associations between subtype and visuospatial, whole-body spatial, inhibition and/or switching, and planning and/or organizational aspects of cognitive and motor-cognitive function. DesignRetrospective cohort study. Fisher exact test was used for categorical variables, while 2-sample independent t tests were used to analyze continuous variables. SettingAssessments took place at Emory University. ParticipantsParticipants (N=72) were 40 years and older, had a clinical diagnosis of PD, exhibited 3 of the 4 cardinal signs of PD, had shown benefit from antiparkinsonian medications, and were in Hoehn and Yahr stages I-IV. Participants could walk 3 m or more with or without assistance. InterventionsNot applicable. Main Outcome MeasuresBalance and mobility tests included Fullerton Advanced Balance Scale and the time needed to turn 360 degrees. Cognitive assessments included Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Brooks Spatial Memory Task, Color-Word Interference Test, Tower of London, Trail Making Test, Corsi Blocks, Serial 3s Subtraction, and Body Position Spatial Task. Motor-cognitive function measures included Four Square Step Test and Timed Up and Go. ResultsParticipants with PIGD performed lower than those with TD symptoms on mental status (P=.005), spatial memory (P=.027), executive function (P=.0001-.034), and visuospatial ability (P=.048). ConclusionsFindings suggest that PIGD subtype is linked to greater deficits in spatial cognition, attentional flexibility and organizational planning, and whole-body spatial memory domains. These findings support the need for more personalized approaches to clinically managing PD.

Attentional Flexibility Predicts A-Not-B Task Performance in 14-Month-Old-Infants: A Head-Mounted Eye Tracking Study.

Early individual differences in executive functions (EFs) are predictive of a range of developmental outcomes. However, despite the importance of EFs, little is known about the processes underlying these early individual differences. Therefore, we investigated the association between 14-month-old infants’ attention on a reaching version of the A-not-B task and task success. We hypothesized that both strategic focused attention (measured as percentage looking time towards the correct location during delay) and attentional flexibility (measured as number of looks per second to available stimuli during delay) would relate positively to task performance. Infants performed the A-not-B task wearing a head-mounted eye tracker (N = 24). Results were trial-dependent and partially supported the hypotheses: (1) infants who were better able to flexibly shift attention between available stimuli on the first pre-switch trial showed better task performance overall; and (2) strategic focused attention to the hiding location during the first switch trial was positively related to performance on that particular trial only (trend-level effect). Thus, the study shows preliminary evidence that particularly attentional flexibility is a key factor underlying EF performance in young children. Advantages and challenges of working with head-mounted eye tracking in infants are discussed.

Neural Mechanisms of Strategic Adaptation in Attentional Flexibility.

Individuals are able to adjust their readiness to shift spatial attention, referred to as "attentional flexibility," according to the changing demands of the environment, but the neural mechanisms underlying learned adjustments in flexibility are unknown. In the current study, we used fMRI to identify the brain structures responsible for learning shift likelihood. Participants were cued to covertly hold or shift attention among continuous streams of alphanumeric characters and to indicate the parity of target stimuli. Unbeknown to the participants, the stream locations were predictive of the likelihood of having to shift (or hold) attention. Participants adapted their attentional flexibility according to contextual demands, such that the RT cost associated with shifting attention was smallest when shift cues were most likely. Learning model-derived shift prediction error scaled positively with activity within dorsal and ventral frontoparietal regions, documenting that these regions track and update shift likelihood. A complementary inverted encoding model analysis revealed that the pretrial difference in attentional selection strength between to-be-attended and to-be-ignored locations did not change with increasing shift likelihood. The behavioral improvement associated with learned flexibility may primarily arise from a speeding of the shift process rather than from preparatory broadening of attentional selection.

Assessment of fatigue severity and neurocognitive functions in the real setting of Ramadan in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

ObjectivesType 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is linked with a risk of dementia and decline in neurocognitive function. The current observational case-control study was conducted to evaluate the effect of fasting during Ramadan on cognitive functions and fatigue severity in T2DM patients using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB). MethodsThis research was conducted at King Saud University Medical city, on 82 subjects including 43 control and 39 T2DM patients of both genders. The standardized Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) and tests from CANTAB, including the Motor Screening Task (MOT), Spatial Span (SSP) and Intra-Extra Dimensional Set Shift (IED) were recorded during 3rd week and 2–3 weeks after Ramadan under controlled environmental conditions. Neurocognitive functions were recorded through CANTAB. ResultsIED errors (24.43 vs 50.73, p = 0.007), MOT mean and median latency (1466.32 vs 1120.27, p = 0.002) were significantly higher in T2DM than controls. IED stages completed (7.43 vs 8.69, p = 0.003) and SSP Span length were significantly lower in T2DM than controls (4.13 vs 4.82, p = 0.059). The significant differences between T2DM patients and controls persisted in the post. T2DM patients made more errors and completed less IED stages than did the controls, indicating that a worsened flexibility of attention relative to controls. Moreover, T2DM patients exhibited longer latencies in MOT, indicating poor motor performance. A comparison of performances by T2DM patients on FSS and CANTAB during and after Ramadan showed that fasting substantially increased fatigue scales, motor performance, and working-memory capacity. ConclusionsPatients with T2DM have impaired cognitive functions including poor motor performance, low flexibility of attention, and poor working memory capacity compared to healthy control subjects during and also in post Ramadan period. However, there is no clear statistical evidence that the cognitive functions (except for SSP SL scores) and fatigue severity of T2DM subjects differ between Ramadan and after Ramadan in both T2DM and controls.

Brain Circuit Alterations and Cognitive Disability in Late-Onset Cobalamin D Disorder.

Neuroimaging studies describing brain circuits’ alterations in cobalamin (vitamin B12)-deficient patients are limited and have not been carried out in patients with inborn errors of cobalamin metabolism. The objective of this study was to assess brain functionality and brain circuit alterations in a patient with an ultra-rare inborn error of cobalamin metabolism, methylmalonic aciduria, and homocystinuria due to cobalamin D disease, as compared with his twin sister as a healthy control (HC). We acquired magnetic resonance imaging (including structural, functional, and diffusion images) to calculate brain circuit abnormalities and combined these results with the scores after a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation. As compared with HC, the patient had severe patterns of damage, such as a 254% increment of ventricular volume, pronounced subcortical and cortical atrophies (mainly at striatum, cingulate cortex, and precuneus), and connectivity alterations at fronto-striato-thalamic circuit, cerebellum, and corpus callosum. In agreement with brain circuit alterations, cognitive deficits existed in attention, executive function, inhibitory control, and mental flexibility. This is the first study that provides the clinical, genetic, neuroanatomical, neuropsychological, and psychosocial characterization of a patient with the cobalamin D disorder, showing functional alterations in central nervous system motor tracts, thalamus, cerebellum, and basal ganglia, that, as far as we know, have not been reported yet in vitamin B12-related disorders.

Effectiveness of the Mindfulness-Based OpenMind-Korea (OM-K) Preschool Program

Preschool years provide a window of opportunity to enhance attentional flexibility, increase inhibitory control, build resilience, and strengthen emotion regulation in children. We assessed the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based social-emotional learning program—OpenMind-Korea (OM-K)—on preschool children’s emotion regulation, resilience, and prosocial behaviors. In a two-arm randomized controlled trial, two of four preschools were randomly assigned to the intervention condition and two to the control condition. The teachers in the intervention condition implemented the OM-K program (n = 42 children), and the teachers in the control condition provided instruction as usual (n = 41 children). At baseline (pre-intervention), the children in the control condition were rated as being significantly better on all outcome variables than those in the intervention condition. Although children in the intervention condition improved on all outcome variables, the children in the control condition continued to be rated higher on all outcome variables at the first post-intervention assessment. However, the children in the intervention condition were rated with significantly higher scores than the children in the control condition at the second and third post-intervention assessments. The children in the intervention condition were rated with significantly higher scores on lability/negativity, resilience, and prosocial behaviors. Although the ratings for adaptive regulation were higher for the children in the intervention condition than those in the control condition, the ratings did not reach statistical significance. This study suggests that implementing the OM-K program in preschools may enhance the children’s emotion regulation (adaptive regulation, lability/negativity), resilience, and prosocial behavior (helping, sharing, cooperation, and comfort to others).

Linear and Nonlinear EEG-Based Functional Networks in Anxiety Disorders.

Electrocortical network dynamics are integral to brain function. Linear and nonlinear connectivity applications enrich neurophysiological investigations into anxiety disorders. Discrete EEG-based connectivity networks are unfolding with some homogeneity for anxiety disorder subtypes. Attenuated delta/theta/beta connectivity networks, pertaining to anterior-posterior nodes, characterize panic disorder. Nonlinear measures suggest reduced connectivity of ACC as an executive neuro-regulator in germane "fear circuitry networks" might be more central than considered. Enhanced network complexity and theta network efficiency at rest define generalized anxiety disorder, with similar tonic hyperexcitability apparent in social anxiety disorder further extending to task-related/state functioning. Dysregulated alpha connectivity and integration of mPFC-ACC/mPFC-PCC relays implicated with attentional flexibility and choice execution/congruence neurocircuitry are observed in trait anxiety. Conversely, state anxiety appears to recruit converging delta and beta connectivity networks as panic, suggesting trait and state anxiety are modulated by discrete neurobiological mechanisms. Furthermore, EEG connectivity dynamics distinguish anxiety from depression, despite prevalent clinical comorbidity. Rethinking mechanisms implicated in the etiology, maintenance, and treatment of anxiety from the perspective of EEG network science across micro- and macroscales serves to shed light and move the field forward.

Neuropsychological deficits in depression – a challenge for cognitive-behavioral therapies

Neuropsychological deficits in depression are a significant therapeutic challenge. Their occurrence means poor therapeutic prospects, worse social and professional functioning after therapy, as well as a higher risk of relapse. Despite clinical improvement, they often remain even in a state of complete remission. Beck’s model of depression does not include interventions directed at neuropsychological processes leading to neurocognitive mechanisms responsible for the development and maintenance of depression. More recent trends in cognitive-behavioral therapy seem to involve neuropsychological processes to a greater extent. This applies to Well’s metacognitive model, which focuses on the meta-level of thinking. Therapeutic process involves various aspects of attention, as well as detached mindfulness. Available empirical studies indicate that this therapy model is more effective in reducing neuropsychological deficits than Beck’s model. Acceptance and commitment therapy as well as mindfulness-based cognitivetherapy both focus on the development of skills that are related to the efficiency of executive functions and flexibility of attention, i.e. the cognitive processes whose deficits are characteristic of depression. However, research is needed to confirm their effectiveness in reducing neuropsychological deficiencies compared to other therapeutic models. Interventions in the field of cognitive remediationcan be used to enrich cognitive-behavioral therapies and increase their effectiveness. Until now, they have been used as a separate form of therapy, for example in anorexia.

Contextual Changes Influence Attention Flexibility Towards New Goals

The ability to flexibly process affective information underlies resilient adaptation to changing situations. However, the impact of social contextual changes on affective flexibility has not been examined yet, although this may be crucial to understand how attention operates when changing situations require allocation of different emotional goals. In a novel eye-tracking task, participants had to deploy the goals to attend to positive or negative facial expressions based on contextual cues. We found that dysphorics, compared to non-dysphorics, were faster in switching to negative goals, but slower in switching to positive goals, when the context remained constant. However, when the context changed, dysphorics showed an even faster switch to negative goals, while non-dysphorics became more adept at switching towards positive goals. These results suggest that contextual changes exacerbate the negativity and positivity biases exhibited by dysphoric and non-dysphoric individuals, respectively. The study provides evidence for the key role played by contextual changes in guiding attention allocation and thereby emotion regulation processes. These findings provide preliminary evidence for the role of contextual inflexibility in dysphoria. Results need to be replicated in a clinical sample to further clarify the role of inflexibility over the course of depression.

Executive function in children with Tourette syndrome and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: Cross-disorder or unique impairments?

Findings of executive functioning deficits in Tourette syndrome (TS) have so far been inconsistent, possibly due to methodological challenges of previous studies, such as the use of small sample sizes and not accounting for comorbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), or medication use. We aimed to address these issues by examining several areas of executive functioning (response inhibition, attentional flexibility, cognitive control, and working memory) and psychomotor speed in 174 8-to-12-year-old children with TS [n = 34 without (TS−ADHD) and n = 26 with comorbid ADHD (TS+ADHD)], ADHD without tics (ADHD−TS; n = 54), and healthy controls (n = 60). We compared executive functioning measures and psychomotor speed between these groups and related these to ADHD severity across the whole sample, and tic severity across the TS groups. Children with TS+ADHD, but not TS−ADHD, made more errors on the cognitive control task than healthy children, while TS−ADHD had a slower psychomotor speed compared to healthy controls. The ADHD group showed impairment in cognitive control and working memory versus healthy controls. Moreover, higher ADHD severity was associated with poorer cognitive control and working memory across all groups; there was no relation between any of the executive functioning measures and tic severity. OCD severity or medication use did not influence our results. In conclusion, we found little evidence for executive function impairments inherent to TS. Executive function problems appear to manifest predominantly in relation to ADHD symptomatology, with both cross-disorder and unique features of neuropsychological functioning when cross-comparing TS and ADHD.

Attentional flexibility is imbalanced: Asymmetric cost for switches between external and internal attention.

Whereas the effects of attention switches occurring within perception or memory are relatively well understood, much less is known about switches of attention between them. We discuss the methodological limitations of initial research on this topic, which was never integrated with the broader cognitive literature. On the basis of this discussion, we present here a new paradigm, in which participants performed a simple probe-to-target matching task where targets were either perceived on screen or retrieved from memory. Across successive trials, repetitions or alternations (in both directions) between these 2 conditions were created, and eventually compared with each other. In line with our prediction, derived from the assumption of a top-down control mechanism, we found a cost for switching between external and internal attention in Experiment 1. Furthermore, this switch cost was asymmetric, being substantially larger when switching from (external) perception to (internal) memory than the other way around. In Experiments 2-4, we ruled out an imbalance in practice, learning, and preparation as confounds for this asymmetry. We propose that switches of attention between internal and external information are underpinned by a supervisory attention control mechanism, and that this asymmetry can be explained in terms of priming, associative interference or memory retrieval. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

The Flexibility of Episodic Long-Term Memory-Guided Attention and the Impact of Reinstating Context

While it may seem that salient visual events, like the flashing lights on an ambulance, can automatically capture our attention, capture is actually under our control. Depending on our current internal goals, we adopt attentional control settings (ACSs) that specify what stimuli in the environment capture our attention. It has been shown that ACSs can be defined based on long-term episodic memory representations. For example, when searching for the items on your grocery list, an ACS can be specified based on your long-term memory of the list, such that your attention will be drawn to those items, and only those items. Importantly, episodic memories incorporate contextual information that can enhance recall when reinstated (e.g., you will remember your grocery list better if it was memorized at the grocery store rather than at home). Here we asked whether reinstating context can enhance the establishment of long-term memory ACSs. Participants memorized two sets of 15 images of objects in a particular context (i.e., a coloured box in a particular spatial location), that they then searched for, inducing an episodic-based ACS for those objects. During the search task, this encoding context was either reinstated, or not. We found that individuals are able to flexibly switch between ACSs and sources of information. However, we did not find sufficient evidence for the effect of context on the establishment of ACSs or their flexibility. This study extends our understanding of the factors that influence memory-guided attention, and the impact of contextual reinstatement on the formation of ACSs.

Effects of Headache on CNS Vital Signs Performance in a Concussed Community Sample

Abstract Purpose Headache (HA) is the most common symptom following concussion. We examined the effect of HA on CNS Vital Signs (CNSVS) performance. Methods Data were analyzed from 63 patients (25 males, Mdn age [IQR]=23.0 [21.0], Mdn days since injury [IQR]=66.0 [112.0]) presenting to an interdisciplinary concussion clinic. HA disorders were diagnosed post-injury by a board-certified neurologist and obtained from medical records. Nearly half (51%) of the sample had a HA diagnosis. We analyzed the performance on CNSVS multiple test domains: Composite Memory, Psychomotor Speed, Complex Attention, and Cognitive Flexibility. Chi-square test of independence assessed differences in demographic and medical history factors among those with and without HA diagnosis. Multivariate analyses of covariance assessed the influence of HA on CNSVS multiple test domains. Factors significantly different between groups were added as covariates. Results There were significant interactions of loss of consciousness (LOC; Χ2(1, 63)= 6.22, p=.013), history of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; Χ2(1, 63)= 5.13, p=.023), and daytime sleepiness (Χ2(1, 63)= 6.14, p=.013) among those with and without HA diagnosis. The presence of these medical conditions composed 19%, 28%, and 40%, respectively, of HA diagnoses. There was no statistically significant omnibus effect of HA diagnosis on the four CNSVS domain scores without covariates (F[4, 58]= 0.46, p=.76, ηp2=.03) or when controlling for LOC, history of ADHD, and daytime sleepiness (F[4, 55]=0.44, p=.78, ηp2=.03). Conclusion Findings suggest that HA diagnosis is unrelated to performance on CNSVS in individuals after concussion.

Interactions between familial risk profiles and preschoolers' emotionality in predicting executive function

We identified familial risk profiles and examined interactions between these profiles and child emotionality in predicting child executive function (EF). Among 126 mother-child dyads (child mean age = 3.23 years), four profiles were found based on maternal education, family income-to-needs ratio, and maternal depressive symptoms, anxiety, and parenting stress: Higher SES-Lower Mental Health Risk, Lower SES-Lower Mental Health Risk, Lower SES-Average Mental Health Risk, and Lower SES-Higher Mental Health Risk profiles. We found that high child positive emotionality at age 3 predicted high inhibitory control and low attention flexibility a year later exclusively in the Lower SES-Higher Mental Health Risk profile. Overall, children in the Higher SES-Lower Mental Health Risk profile showed better inhibitory control and attention flexibility than those in the Lower SES-Higher Mental Health Risk. This study extends our understanding of how different constellations of familial risks interact with child emotionality to contribute to child EF development.

Fear and happiness, but not sadness, motivate attentional flexibility: A case for emotion influencing the ability to split foci of attention.

One prominent and consistent effect is that negative emotions with high motivational intensity, such as fear, narrow attention. However, recent data concerning how fear influences vision may suggest that fear could make attention flexible. Thus, the goal of the present study was to examine whether fear, like happiness, enhances attentional flexibility when multiple targets are present in noncontiguous locations. Fear, happiness, or sadness was induced followed by participants completing an attentional task that required splitting foci of attention to noncontiguous regions of space in the presence (Exp. 1) or absence (Exp. 2) of distractors or both (Exp. 3). Fear and happiness enhanced the reporting of targets in unattended locations demonstrating greater attentional flexibility. Sadness facilitated the splitting of attention through the suppression of irrelevant locations. The effects were replicated in a third experiment using a within-subjects design of distractor presence and an inclusion of a neutral condition. Taken together, results suggest fear and happiness increase attentional flexibility by impairing the suppression of irrelevant locations, which may allow for faster reallocation of attention facilitating detection of potential threats/rewards in one's environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Attachment-related attention bias plays a causal role in trust in maternal support

The current study was designed to test whether children’s ability to flexibly shift their attention (from their mother during distress to peers during exploration and vice versa) causally increases children’s trust in the mother’s support. We trained attention flexibility using a gaze-contingent music reward design. A total of 85 children (9–13 years of age; 46% boys) were randomly assigned to this training or a comparable yoked control condition. Attentional preferences were measured via eye tracking. Before and after the manipulation, we measured self-reported trust. Results showed that the training condition increased children’s attention flexibility. Training-related increased attentional focus on the mother during distress was linked with increased trust.

Flexibility in resizing attentional breadth: Asymmetrical versus symmetrical attentional contraction and expansion costs depends on context.

One of the core ways that attentional resources can be regulated is the breadth of attention: the tendency to concentrate one's attentional resources over a small region of space (i.e., "narrow scope"), or to spread them over a larger region of space (i.e., "broad scope"). It has long been understood that humans have a preference towards the broad or global level of processing. More recently, beyond any static preference, researchers have increasingly appreciated the importance of rapid rescaling of attentional breadth to meet task demands, especially for real-world tasks such as driving. Here, we examined whether there was any asymmetry in the human capacity to resize attention from a narrow to broad scale (expansion) versus a broad to narrow scale (contraction). In Experiment 1, we found remarkable symmetry in expansion and contraction efficiency, even under conditions where the global stimuli were demonstrably more salient. This indicates that humans can flexibly adapt to the attentional demands of the context. However, in Experiment 2, an asymmetry was revealed, whereby attentional expansion was more efficient than contraction. The key difference between Experiments 1 and 2 was whether or not the initial baseline block demanded frequent attentional resizing, suggesting that recent experience can impact attentional flexibility. We also found reliable individual differences in participants' ability to resize their attentional breadth, identifying a group of high-flexibility individuals who excelled at both attentional expansion and contraction.

0213 Acute Total Sleep Deprivation Impairs the Ability to Manage Response Conflict

The attention network test (ANT) measures the ability to use an alerting cue to detect a stimulus (alerting effect), use a spatial cue to shift the location of visual attention (orienting effect), and manage response conflict (conflict effect). Total sleep deprivation (TSD) has been shown to negatively affect cognitive functions, including distinct aspects of attention. As part of a laboratory study, we measured performance on the ANT to examine the impact of TSD on attentional functioning. 14 healthy adults (ages 21-39; 7 females/7 males) completed a 4-day (3-night) in-laboratory study. After a baseline night of sleep (9h sleep opportunity; 22:00-07:00), subjects underwent 38h TSD, followed by one night of recovery sleep (9h sleep opportunity; 22:00-07:00). A version of the ANT with variable inter-stimulus interval was administered at 09:00 during baseline, after 26h TSD, and after recovery sleep. Mixed-effects analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed marked impairment in the conflict effect during TSD (F2,26=4.74, P=0.018). The alerting (F2,26=0.02, P=0.98) and orienting (F226=0.25, P=0.78) effects were not significantly affected by TSD. Consistent with earlier findings, TSD did not significantly degrade the alerting effect on the ANT. In this study, TSD also did not significantly reduce the orienting effect. Thus, subjects maintained the ability to detect a stimulus and shift visual attention in response to cues, despite sleep deprivation. However, TSD had significant impact on the conflict effect, indicating that subjects experienced considerable difficulty managing response conflict while sleep-deprived. This finding is consistent with recent evidence that, independent of its effect on vigilant attention, sleep deprivation causes profound deficits in attentional flexibility. Jazz Pharmaceuticals

Methylphenidate administration reverts attentional inflexibility in adolescent rats submitted to a model of neonatal hypoxia-ischemia: Predictive validity for ADHD study

Perinatal complications such as birth asphyxia were associated with a higher risk for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in humans. Data from a rat model of neonatal hypoxia-ischemia (HI) have revealed inattention, impulsive behavior and dopamine (DA) disturbances in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), confirming the face validity and construct validity for ADHD study. However, the predictive validity (similar therapeutic efficacy of the pharmacological treatment available in the clinic) should be considered. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the effects of methylphenidate (MPH) - the treatment of choice for ADHD - on exploratory and attentional flexibility behaviors and DA-related proteins in the PFC of animals submitted to neonatal HI. Male Wistar rats were divided into four groups: control saline (CTS, n = 12), control MPH (CTMPH, n = 12), HI saline (HIS, n = 13) and HIMPH (n = 12). The HI procedure was conducted at postnatal day (PND) 7 and behavioral measures between PND 30–40, followed by protein analysis in the PFC. The MPH administration (2.5 mg/kg, i.p.) occurred 30 min prior each behavioral session and euthanasia for western blot analysis. We observed that the MPH increased the locomotor activity in the open field especially in HI rats. In the attentional-set shifting task, the MPH reversed the HI- induced attentional inflexibility, but impaired the task acquisition in control rats. Neonatal HI resulted in lower DA D2 receptors expression but also decreased DA transporter (responsible for DA reuptake) and increased pTH (phosphorylated-tyrosine hydroxylase) levels in the PFC, probably to compensate the dysfunctional DA transmission. This compensation was higher in the HIMPH group and it could explain the improvement in the attentional flexibility as well as the increased locomotor activity in this group. Taken this data together, we can assume the predictive validity of the HI model for the ADHD study concerning the impact of MPH treatment on attentional parameters.