The Role of Sustained Attention in the Production of Conjoined Noun Phrases: An Individual Differences Study

Preliminary Study of the Applicability of Software in the investigation of Sustained Auditory Attention

Introduction The use of auditory behavioral tests, which specifically assess sustained attention, is necessary, due to its relationship with learning, language production, cognitive development and school performance.

Objective To evaluate how children performed using software developed to investigate the ability of sustained auditory attention, and to compare the scores obtained in this format with those of the original, non-computerized test.

Methods This cross-sectional study included 52 children of both genders, aged 6 to 11 years, with normal hearing and no history of complaints regarding inattention and/or hyperactivity. The computerized test was administered to all 52 children. The total error score (inattention and impulsivity) and the vigilance decrement were used to define the children's performance when using the software. The scores obtained in the two formats (computer software and original on compact disc) were then compared.

Results Statistically significant differences were found in the scores for innattention, impulsivity, and total error score (inattention and impulsivity) when comparing genders, and a negative correlation coefficient was found when comparing ages. Increased scores were found for all variables of the sustained auditory attention ability test (SAAAT) compared with the original format.

Conclusion Females performed worse than males in all aspects except for vigilance decrement when using the SAAAT software developed to evaluate the ability of SAAAT vigilance; younger children made more errors when using the SAAAT software; inattention errors were more frequent than impulsivity. Overall, higher values were obtained using the SAAAT software, when compared with the original version.

Attention for Speaking: Prestimulus Motor-cortical Alpha Power Predicts Picture Naming Latencies

There is a range of variability in the speed with which a single speaker will produce the same word from one instance to another. Individual differences studies have shown that the speed of production and the ability to maintain attention are related. This study investigated whether fluctuations in production latencies can be explained by spontaneous fluctuations in speakers' attention just prior to initiating speech planning. A relationship between individuals' incidental attentional state and response performance is well attested in visual perception, with lower prestimulus alpha power associated with faster manual responses. Alpha is thought to have an inhibitory function: Low alpha power suggests less inhibition of a specific brain region, whereas high alpha power suggests more inhibition. Does the same relationship hold for cognitively demanding tasks such as word production? In this study, participants named pictures while EEG was recorded, with alpha power taken to index an individual's momentary attentional state. Participants' level of alpha power just prior to picture presentation and just prior to speech onset predicted subsequent naming latencies. Specifically, higher alpha power in the motor system resulted in faster speech initiation. Our results suggest that one index of a lapse of attention during speaking is reduced inhibition of motor-cortical regions: Decreased motor-cortical alpha power indicates reduced inhibition of this area while early stages of production planning unfold, which leads to increased interference from motor-cortical signals and longer naming latencies. This study shows that the language production system is not impermeable to the influence of attention.

Pre-schoolers' visual perception and attention networks influencing naming speed: An individual difference perspective

Naming speed is considered to be one of the essential components used to predict reading capacity in school. The current study examined how visual perception and attention networks influence naming speed, and analyzed the relationship between visual perception and attention networks. The total number of participants was 163 Thai preschool children between the ages of five and seven years selected through multistage random sampling. Visual perception, attention networks, and naming speed were assessed using the Developmental Test of Visual Perception 3 (DTVP-3), Attention Network Task (ANT), and Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN), respectively. Structural equation modeling was used to test naming speed hypotheses. The hypothesis of a causal model was supported by the evidence generated by this study. A direct positive association between both visual perception and attention networks to naming speed was observed. Compared with attention networks, visual perception had a higher significant effect on naming speed performance. Consequently, children who have higher visual perception are more likely to demonstrate a better naming speed performance. These results indicate that visual perception is strongly urged to naming speed, as doing so can help predict children's reading readiness before they start learning to read.

Interference in speaking while hearing and vice versa

Even when speakers are not actively doing another task, they can be interfered in their speech planning by concurrent auditory stimuli. In this study, we used picture naming with passive hearing, or active listening, combined to high-density electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings to investigate the locus and origin of interference on speech production. Participants named pictures while ignoring (or paying attention to) auditory syllables presented at different intervals (+150 ms, +300 ms or +450 ms). Interference of passive hearing was observed at all positive stimulus onset asynchronies (SOA) including when distractors appeared 450 ms after picture onset. Analyses of ERPs and microstates revealed modulations appearing in a time-window close to verbal response onset likely relating to post-lexical planning processes. A shift of latency of the N1 auditory component for syllables displayed 450 ms after picture onset relative to hearing in isolation was also observed. Data from picture naming with active listening to auditory syllables also pointed to post-lexical interference. The present study suggests that, beyond the lexical stage, post-lexical processes can be interfered and that the reciprocal interference between utterance planning and hearing relies on attentional demand and possibly competing neural substrates.

Sustained attention failures on a 3-min reaction time task is a sensitive marker of dementia

The objective of the study is to determine the utility of a simple reaction time task as a marker of general cognitive decline across the frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) spectrum and in Alzheimer's disease (AD). One hundred and twelve patients presenting with AD or FTLD affecting behaviour (behavioural-variant frontotemporal dementia), language (progressive non fluent aphasia, logopenic progressive aphasia, semantic dementia) or motor function (corticobasal syndrome, progressive supranuclear palsy, frontotemporal dementia-motor neuron disease) and 25 age-matched healthy controls completed the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT), a 3-min reaction time (RT) task. The proportion of lapses (RT > 500 ms) was significantly increased in dementia patients compared to healthy controls, except for semantic dementia, and correlated with all cognitive functions except language. Discrimination of individuals (dementia patients versus healthy controls) based on the proportion of lapses yielded the highest classification performance (Area Under the Curve, AUC, 0.90) compared to standard neuropsychological tests. Only the complete and lengthy neuropsychological battery had a higher predictive value (AUC 0.96). The basic ability to sustain attention is fundamental to perform any cognitive task. Lapses, interpreted as momentary shifts in goal-directed processing, can therefore, be used as a marker of general cognitive decline indicative of possible dementia.

Sustained Attention Ability Affects Simple Picture Naming

Sustained attention has previously been shown as a requirement for language production. However, this is mostly evident for difficult conditions, such as a dual-task situation. The current study provides corroborating evidence that this relationship holds even for simple picture naming. Sustained attention ability, indexed both by participants’ reaction times and individuals’ hit rate (the proportion of correctly detected targets) on a digit discrimination task, correlated with picture naming latencies. Individuals with poor sustained attention were consistently slower and their RT distributions were more positively skewed when naming pictures compared to individuals with better sustained attention. Additionally, the need to sustain attention was manipulated by changing the speed of stimulus presentation. Research has suggested that fast event rates tax sustained attention resources to a larger degree than slow event rates. However, in this study the fast event rate did not result in increased difficulty, neither for the picture naming task nor for the sustained attention task. Instead, the results point to a speed-accuracy trade-off in the sustained attention task (lower accuracy but faster responses in the fast than in the slow event rate), and to a benefit for faster rates in the picture naming task (shorter naming latencies with no difference in accuracy). Performance on both tasks was largely comparable, supporting previous findings that sustained attention is called upon during language production.

Picture naming in typically developing and language-impaired children: the role of sustained attention

BACKGROUND

Children with specific language impairment (SLI) have problems not only with language performance but also with sustained attention, which is the ability to maintain alertness over an extended period of time. Although there is consensus that this ability is impaired with respect to processing stimuli in the auditory perceptual modality, conflicting evidence exists concerning the visual modality.

AIMS

To address the outstanding issue whether the impairment in sustained attention is limited to the auditory domain, or if it is domain-general. Furthermore, to test whether children's sustained attention ability relates to their word-production skills.

METHODS & PROCEDURES

Groups of 7-9 year olds with SLI (N = 28) and typically developing (TD) children (N = 22) performed a picture-naming task and two sustained attention tasks, namely auditory and visual continuous performance tasks (CPTs).

OUTCOMES & RESULTS

Children with SLI performed worse than TD children on picture naming and on both the auditory and visual CPTs. Moreover, performance on both the CPTs correlated with picture-naming latencies across developmental groups.

CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS

These results provide evidence for a deficit in both auditory and visual sustained attention in children with SLI. Moreover, the study indicates there is a relationship between domain-general sustained attention and picture-naming performance in both TD and language-impaired children. Future studies should establish whether this relationship is causal. If attention influences language, training of sustained attention may improve language production in children from both developmental groups.

Neurophysiological Modulations of Non-Verbal and Verbal Dual-Tasks Interference during Word Planning

Running a concurrent task while speaking clearly interferes with speech planning, but whether verbal vs. non-verbal tasks interfere with the same processes is virtually unknown. We investigated the neural dynamics of dual-task interference on word production using event-related potentials (ERPs) with either tones or syllables as concurrent stimuli. Participants produced words from pictures in three conditions: without distractors, while passively listening to distractors and during a distractor detection task. Production latencies increased for tasks with higher attentional demand and were longer for syllables relative to tones. ERP analyses revealed common modulations by dual-task for verbal and non-verbal stimuli around 240 ms, likely corresponding to lexical selection. Modulations starting around 350 ms prior to vocal onset were only observed when verbal stimuli were involved. These later modulations, likely reflecting interference with phonological-phonetic encoding, were observed only when overlap between tasks was maximal and the same underlying neural circuits were engaged (cross-talk).