ABSTRACT
Attention training (ATT) is based on the concept that efficiency increases after repetitive practice of specific cognitive operations of attention (1) because practice produces adaptations in the underlying neuroanatomical networks linked to these processes (2). This concept has origins in the field of cognitive rehabilitation where attention process training (APT), using tasks such as listening for descending number sequences, shifting set, and visual cancellation, has been used to activate and train sustained, alternating, and divided attention (3). It should be noted that the term “ATT” has also been used to refer to different approaches, including (1) neurofeedback or biofeedback, (2) electronic equipment designed to give the child feedback
when he/she is off task, and (3) cognitive training techniques, which involve training the child to self-talk to keep themselves on task and paying attention. We do not review these approaches in this chapter. Instead, we specifically refer to ATT methodologies as those using adaptive tasks specific to attentional functions thought to have certain corresponding neural bases which are changed through repetition and practice.
