Article

The development of attention is critical for the young child's competence in
dealing with the demands of everyday life. Here we review evidence from infants
and preschool children regarding the development of three neural subsystems of
attention: selective attention, sustained attention, and attentional (executive)
control. These systems overlap with dorsal cortical visual streams and their
disorders are related to the general hypothesis of 'dorsal stream vulnerability'.
Infants' ability to control spatial selective attention can be measured using the
'Fixation Shift' task. From around 4 months of age, infants start to show
cortical control in disengaging to switch between competing targets. Fixation
shifts have proved to be an effective early indicator of attentional disorders
associated with perinatal brain damage. Executive function emerges slowly,
starting around 1 year of age. The new Early Childhood Attention Battery has
identified the three attention subsystems as distinct before 5 years of age in
typical development and allows assessment of individual attention profiles across
these subsystems. The Early Childhood Attention Battery is now being used to
identify specific profiles associated with developmental syndromes such as
Williams, Down, and fragile X. These new methods offer the possibility of very
early identification of attention disorders, raising the challenge of effective
remediation and treatment at an early age.
CI - (c) The Authors. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology (c) 2012 Mac Keith
Press.

Langue : ANGLAIS