Attentional control
[2][3] Sources of attention in the brain create a system of three networks: alertness (maintaining awareness), orientation (information from sensory input), and executive control (resolving conflict).
[6] The task requires participants to quickly respond to cues given on a computer screen, while having their attention fixated on a center target.
[10] Other research has suggested, however, that even very young infants do have some capacity to exercise control over their allocation of attention, albeit in a much more limited sense.
Results showed evidence of decreases in responsiveness in brain areas associated with attentional control for the older group.
This result suggests that older people may have decreases in their ability to utilize attentional control in their everyday lives.
[19] Gray matter tissue in the central nervous system enables individuals to interact with the world and carry out highly skilled functions.
Studies reveal that individuals who engage in physical activity increase the cortical volume of gray matter later in life, preventing age-related atrophy and promoting attentional control.
[25] Several groups have also reported impaired attentional control early in development in children from lower socioeconomic status families.
[30] Researchers suggest that people should use experimental and longitudinal designs to address the relationship between ACS, emotional functioning, CAS, and attention to threat.
This is due to the increasing problematic occurrences experts are seeing in the field regarding attentional control in relation to other mental illnesses.
A recent review revealed that 61.2% of current studies found that participants who experienced PTSD suffered from significant attentional control problems.
[34] Patients who suffer from PTSD commonly struggle to concentrate on certain tasks for longer periods of time, allowing intrusive thoughts to override their current focus.
More recently, yoga and meditation were found to positivity affect attentional control in patients who have experienced PTSD.
Even four days of mindfulness meditation training can significantly improve visuo-spatial processing, working memory and executive functioning.
Prominent authors who take a modular approach to cognitive development include Jerry Fodor, Elizabeth Spelke and Steven Pinker.
In contrast, other authors such as Annette Karmiloff-Smith, Mark Johnson and Linda Smith have instead advocated taking a more interactive or dynamical systems approaches to cognitive development.
[45][citation needed] Amongst authors who take neuroconstructivist approaches to development, particular importance has been attached to attentional control, since it is thought to be a domain-general process that may influence the subsequent acquisition of other skills in other areas.
For example, a number of authors have looked at the relationship between an infant's capacity to exercise attentional control and their subsequent performance during language acquisition.
To study this, a screening measure for attentional control was given that tested a person's ability to keep track of words while also doing math problems.
This result suggests that people with lower attentional control ability have more trouble inhibiting information from the surrounding environment.
