Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 26, 2026
P50 Sensory Gating in Infants
Published on: December 26, 2013
Selective attention deficits during human pregnancy
R H M de Groot1, Jos J Adam, G Hornstra
1Department of Human Biology, Maastricht University, PO Box 616, 6200MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands. rhm.degroot@hb.unimaas.nl
Using a longitudinal design we provide evidence that selective attention - a key component of cognition concerned with selection and preparation - is compromised during pregnancy. Selective attention was operationalized by means of the finger precuing technique, which selectively prepares two of four finger responses. The precuing benefit was taken as a measure of selective attention. Pregnant women showed a significant smaller precuing benefit at week 36 of pregnancy than did the control women, indicating loss of selective attention. Thirty-two weeks after childbirth this performance decrement had vanished, reflecting a functional recovery.
Using a longitudinal design we provide evidence that selective attention - a key component of cognition concerned with selection and preparation - is compromised during pregnancy. Selective attention was operationalized by means of the finger precuing technique, which selectively prepares two of four finger responses. The precuing benefit was taken as a measure of selective attention. Pregnant women showed a significant smaller precuing benefit at week 36 of pregnancy than did the control women, indicating loss of selective attention. Thirty-two weeks after childbirth this performance decrement had vanished, reflecting a functional recovery.
