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A Multi-Method Approach to Addressing the Toddler Data Desert in Attention Research
Anastasia Kerr-German1, A Caglar Tas2, Aaron T Buss2
1Boys Town National Research Hospital, Center for Childhood Deafness, Language, and Learning.
Insights
This study links early visual attention skills in toddlers to later executive functions. Findings reveal distinct neural patterns for oculomotor and manual attention tasks, suggesting different developmental pathways.
Area of Science:
- Developmental psychology
- Cognitive neuroscience
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Visual attention develops significantly in infancy and early childhood, co-developing with executive functions.
- A gap exists in understanding the link between early infant attention measures and later toddler attention, particularly concerning executive functioning.
- Existing research lacks integrated neural and behavioral data connecting early attention foundations with later cognitive skills.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the associations between infant oculomotor attention skills and toddler manual response attention.
- To explore the neural and behavioral links between different measures of attention in early childhood.
- To examine how distinct attention tasks relate to executive functioning development in toddlers.
Main Methods:
- Administered the infant orienting with attention (IOWA) oculomotor task and a manual response Flanker task to 2.5- and 3.5-year-old toddlers.
- Collected simultaneous neural recordings using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), eye-tracking data, and behavioral responses.
- Analyzed associations between behavioral performance on both tasks and neural activation patterns.
Main Results:
- Oculomotor facilitation in the IOWA task negatively correlated with accuracy on neutral Flanker task trials.
- Conflict scores between the IOWA and Flanker tasks showed a positive association.
- Distinct neural activation patterns were observed: left frontal cortex for the Flanker task and right frontal/parietal cortex for the IOWA task.
- IOWA task activation varied with oculomotor control: stimulus-reactive children showed more parietal activation, while controlled-behavior children showed more frontal activation.
Conclusions:
- Behavioral measures of attention show significant associations between oculomotor and manual response tasks in toddlers.
- Neural underpinnings of attention differ between oculomotor and manual tasks, highlighting distinct developmental trajectories.
- Understanding these distinct neural and behavioral patterns is crucial for bridging the gap between early attention and later executive functioning development.
Abstract:
Visual attention skills undergo robust development change during infancy and continue to co-develop with other cognitive processes in early childhood. Despite this, this is a general disconnect between measures of the earliest foundations of attention during infancy and later development of attention in relation to executive functioning during the toddler years. To examine associations between these different measures of attention, the current study administered an oculomotor task (infant orienting with attention, IOWA) and a manual response (Flanker) task with a group of toddlers. We collected simultaneous neural recordings (using functional near-infrared spectroscopy), eye-tracking, and behavioral responses in 2.5- and 3.5-year-olds to examine the neural and behavioral associations between these skills. Results revealed that oculomotor facilitation in the IOWA task was negatively associated with accuracy on neutral trials in the Flanker task. Second, conflict scores between the two tasks were positively associated. At the neural level, however, the tasks showed distinct patterns of activation. Left frontal cortex was engaged during the Flanker task whereas right frontal and parietal cortex was engaged during the IOWA task. Activation during the IOWA task differed based on how well children could control oculomotor behavior during the task. Children with high levels of stimulus reactivity activated parietal cortex more strongly, but children with more controlled oculomotor behavior activated frontal cortex more strongly.
