ABSTRACT

From a functional perspective, attentional skills are of particular significance during childhood, being critical for the development of cognitive and neuropsychological systems, which in turn influence adaptive, social, and academic functioning (Cooley & Morris, 1990; Dennis, Wilkinson, Koski, & Humphreys, 1995; Douglas, 1983). If attentional skills are impaired, then children may be less able to learn and acquire skills from their environment, to function independently in day-to-day life, and to make use of teaching and instruction. Accurate mapping of a child’s attentional profiles may enable the implementation of appropriate and accurately targeted intervention. Recent research has identified anterior brain regions as critical for effective

attention. The frontal lobes, particularly the prefrontal cortices, are intimately involved in normal development of attention, because of their rich connections with many cerebral regions and their unique role in efficient executive function. As has been observed in previous chapters, these structures develop rapidly through childhood and early adolescence, paralleled by increases in ‘‘higher-order’’ executive abilities, including those related to attention, such as attentional control, shifting, and divided attention (Gogtay et al., 2004). Research is emerging to suggest that damage to prefrontal regions during childhood may interrupt normal maturational processes, leading to irreversible changes in brain structure and organization, and associated impairments in the development of these higher-order attentional skills (Anderson, Jacobs, & Harvey, 2005; Anderson, Levin, & Jacobs, 2002). Adult research examining the consequences of frontal lobe injury has consistently

identified impairments in attention including distractibility, and impulsivity, as well as reduced sustained and shifting attention (Knight & Stuss, 2002; Ponsford & Kinsella, 1992; Stuss et al., 1999, 1994; Wilkins, Shallice, & McCarthy, 1987). Developmental researchers have made similar observations with respect to the

cerebral underpinnings of conditions known to impact attentional abilities, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), learning disabilities, Aspergers syndrome, and autism (August & Garfinkel, 1990; Casey, Gordon, Mannheim, & Rumsey, 1993; Castellanos & Tannock, 2002; Durston et al., 2003; Klin, Sparrow, Volkman, Cicchetti, & Rourke, 1995; Schulz, Newcorn, Fan, Tang, & Halparin, 2005a; Schulz et al., 2005b; Wainwright-Sharp & Bryson, 1993). More recently morphological and activation studies have also supported this link, documenting anomalies in structure and function of anterior brain regions where attentional deficits are present (Anderson, Catroppa, Morse, Haritou, & Rosenfeld, 2005; Castellanos & Tannock, 2002; Sowell et al., 2003). This chapter will review some of this literature, in the context of recent theoretical and developmental models of attention.