The Relation between Infant Covert Orienting, Sustained Attention and Brain Activity

Abstract

This study used measures of event-related potentials (ERPs) and cortical source analysis to examine the effect of covert orienting and sustained attention on 3- and 4.5-month-old infants’ brain activity in a spatial cueing paradigm. Cortical source analysis was conducted with current density reconstruction (CDR) using realistic head models created from age-appropriate infant MRIs. The validity effect was found in the P1 ERP component that was greater for valid than neutral trials in the electrodes contralateral to the visual targets when the stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) was short. Cortical source analysis revealed greater current density amplitude around the P1 peak latency in the contralateral inferior occipital and ventral temporal regions for valid than neutral and invalid trials. The processing cost effect was found in the N1 ERP component that was greater for neutral than invalid trials in the short SOA condition. This processing cost effect was also shown in the current density amplitude around the N1 peak latency in the contralateral inferior and middle occipital and middle and superior temporal regions. Infant sustained attention was found to modulate infants’ brain responses in covert orienting by enhancing the P1 ERP responses and current density amplitude in their cortical sources during sustained attention. These findings suggest that the neural mechanisms that underpin covert orienting already exist in 3- to 4.5-month-olds, and they could be facilitated by infant sustained attention.

Effects of interstimulus intervals on behavioral, heart rate, and event‐related potential indices of infant engagement and sustained attention

“…This explanation is in line with previous research that has reported the effects of sustained attention on infants’ visual processing of target stimuli (Hunter & Richards, 2003; Mallin & Richards, 2012; Richards, 2004; Xie & Richards, 2016). In these studies, infants’ reaction time and their ERP responses to the visual targets were improved during sustained attention.…”

“…It can be seen in Figure 6 that the N290 is evident in both lateral and medial posterior regions. However, the N290 response in the three medial posterior channels (Occipital-Inion1, Occipital-InionZ, Occipital-Inion2) was affected by or mixed with the N1 component that was most prominent in these regions (Richards, 2005; Xie & Richards, 2016). In contrast, the N290 component in the four lateral electrode clusters (Parietal9, Parietal10, Parietal-Occipital7–9, Parietal-Occipital8–10) was not influenced by the N1 component and appeared to have clearer peaks (cf.…”

Development of infant sustained attention and its relation to EEG oscillations: an EEG and cortical source analysis study

“…The steps of source analysis are selection of anatomical MRI, construction of realistic head models, distributed source reconstruction, and segmenting source activity in the whole brain into ROIs. Details about each step are described in the Supplemental Information and in Xie and Richards (2016b).…”

“…Infant sustained attention has been found to enhance infant ERPs components subserving different brain functional networks (Guy, Zieber, & Richards, 2016; Reynolds & Richards, 2005; Xie & Richards, 2016a, b). The changes in these ERP components provide evidence for the consequences of infant sustained attention effects on brain activity.…”

“…Cortical source analysis of the scalp-level PSD was conducted for these frequency rhythms with the CDR technique and realistic head models obtained from the Neurodevelopmental MRI Database (Richards, Sanchez, Phillips-Meek, & Xie 2016; Richards & Xie, 2015; Xie & Richards, 2016b). An accurate MRI model that describes the materials inside the head and their relative conductivity is beneficial for source analysis of EEG and ERPs (Michel et al, 2004; Reynolds & Richards, 2009).…”