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Inhibition of return in children with perinatal brain injury
1Department of Psychology, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA. schatz@sc.edu
Insights
Perinatal brain lesions disrupt the development of inhibition of return, an attention bias crucial in early life. Anterior and diffuse lesions significantly impair this attention mechanism in children with cerebral palsy.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Inhibition of return is an attention bias that decreases attention to previously viewed locations.
- This bias develops within the first six months of life and is thought to involve midbrain structures.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of perinatal brain lesions on the development of inhibition of return.
- To compare inhibition of return in children with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy and varying lesion locations.
Main Methods:
- Thirty-three children with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy were categorized by lesion location (anterior, posterior, diffuse, none) via MRI.
- Participants completed an orienting task to assess inhibition of return, compared against a control group (n=39).
Main Results:
- Facilitation of attention was intact across all groups on short-delay trials.
- Inhibition of return was disrupted in children with anterior and diffuse lesions on long-delay trials, unlike controls and those with posterior lesions.
Conclusions:
- Anterior brain regions are critical for the developing attention system.
- Bilateral perinatal brain injury can lead to unilateral disruptions in visual attention, specifically affecting inhibition of return.
Abstract:
Inhibition of return is a bias in attention that reduces the likelihood of returning attention to previously viewed locations. This attention bias develops during the first 6 months of life and is putatively mediated by midbrain structures. The present study evaluated the effects of perinatal lesions on the development of inhibition of return. Thirty-three children with perinatal injury resulting in spastic diplegic cerebral palsy were grouped based on magnetic resonance exams. Children with anterior (n = 5), posterior (n = 12), diffuse (n = 8), or no apparent (n = 8) lesions were compared with a group of age-matched children without neurologic injury (n = 39) on an orienting task designed to elicit inhibition of return. Short-delay trials demonstrated grossly intact facilitation of attention for all groups. Long-delay trials that produced inhibition of return in the control and posterior injury groups indicated a disruption of inhibition of return in the groups with anterior and diffuse lesions. The findings are consistent with previous reports that anterior regions are important for the developing attention system, and that bilateral injury can result in unilateral disruption of visual attention.