Road traffic noise around schools: a risk for pupil's performance?

Summary Noise levels around educational centres can negatively affect the performance of both teachers and pupils. Two public schools in Valencia, Spain, were selected for study. One of these schools was exposed to excessively high road traffic noise levels while the other was located in a relatively quiet area. The socioeconomic level of those attending the schools was very similar. A set of external and internal noise measurements were carried out, along with two different attention tests among the children. Test results were consistently better (both for tests and for children from different classrooms in each school) in the quiet school. Exposure to high traffic noise levels in the noisy school over the whole school year is a plausible determinant of these results.     

Effects of antipsychotic drugs on latent inhibition: sensitivity and specificity of an animal behavioral model of clinical drug action

Latent inhibition (LI) of a conditioned emotional response (CER) has been proposed as a quantitative measure of selective attention. We have assessed the parallels of the pharmacology of LI in rats with the clinical pharmacology of schizophrenia. Drug and vehicle treated rats were divided into groups and preexposed 20 times to cage illumination as a CS, or not preexposed. All groups were conditioned with 2 CS-footshock pairings. The following day CER, as measured by interruption of drinking in response to CS presentation, was recorded. LI was observed as a decreased CER in preexposed relative to non-preexposed animals. LI was enhanced by haloperidol 0.3 mg/kg after 7 or 14 daily treatments, but not after a single acute dose. Haloperidol doses of 0.3 and 0.03 mg/kg enhanced LI, while doses of 0.003 and 3.0 mg/kg had no effect. Haloperidol enhancement of LI was unaffected by the coadministration of the anticholinergic agent trihexyphenidyl. Enhancement of LI is exhibited by the antipsychotic drugs fluphenazine, chlorpromazine, thiothixene, thioridazine, mesoridazine, and metoclopramide but not clozapine. The non-antipsychotic drugs pentobarbital, imipramine, chlordiazepoxide, trihexyphenidyl, and promethazine failed to enhance LI. LI exhibits striking parallels to the clinical pharmacology of schizophrenia.Preliminary data were presented in part at the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ, 1989     

Divided attention performance in cannabis users and non-users following alcohol and cannabis separately and in combination

The effect of 9-tetrahydrocannabinol ( 9-THC) and alcohol, singly and in combination, on divided attention performance was investigated in cannabis users and non-users who were matched for alcohol use. Both cannabis and alcohol produced decrements in central and peripheral signal detections. Drug and alcohol effects were greater for signal presentations in the periphery. Cannabis users were less impaired in peripheral signal detection than non-users while intoxicated by cannabis and/or alcohol. These findings suggest the development of tolerance and cross-tolerance in regular cannabis users and/or the ability to compensate for intoxication effects.     

注意缺陷多动障碍儿童视觉保持及运动研究

目的探讨注意缺陷多动障碍(attentiondeficithyperactivitydisorder,ADHD)儿童的视觉机能特征。方法采用本顿视觉保持测验(Bentonvisualretentiontest,BVRT)、连线测验(TrailMakingTest,TMT)及符号-数字模式测验(Symbol-DigitModalitiesTest,SDMT)3种方法,分别测试50例ADHD儿童和50例正常儿童的视知觉、视觉记忆、视空间结构、视觉运动注意和视觉扫描等。结果①ADHD组BVRT三种测验方试C、D、E正确分总分(4.9±2.0)低于对照组(7.7±1.4)(t总=8.00,P<0.01),而失误分总分(6.9±3.9)高于对照组(2.5±1.7)(t总=12.1,P<0.01)。②ADHD组完成A型TMT时间较对照组延长(94.6±51.2/56.9±23.7,t=4.61,P<0.05),所犯错误次数与对照组相比差异有显著性(0.3±0.8/0.1±0.3,Hc=4.46,P<0.05);ADHD组完成B型TMT时间较对照组延长(228.0±142.1/120.1±43.8,t=5.14,P<0.05),所犯错误次数较对照组明显增多(6.0±5.5/2.1±3.4,Hc=22.96,P<0.01)。③ADHD组SDMT得分低于对照组(65.2±29.3/97.9±18.8,t=6.65,P<0.01)。结论ADHD儿童存在视知觉、视觉记忆、视空间结构、视觉运动注意以及视觉扫描等视觉机能方面缺陷。     

Developmental aspects of children's behavior and safety while cycling

OBJECTIVE: To examine children's competence while cycling, as demonstrated in mistakes in performance and failure to comply with safety rules. METHODS: Children in three age groups (8, 10, and 12 years) participated in a realistic yet simulated traffic environment. RESULTS: The boys' cycling speed increased steadily with age, while that of the girls increased from 8 to 10 but decreased at age 12. Most children had adequate motor control by age 10, and the youngest compensated for their less developed skills by cycling slowly and braking early at junctions. Serious mistakes, often related to the children's age and gender, consisted of the children failing to stop at signals or stopping too late, especially at short stopping range. CONCLUSIONS: There are considerable individual differences in children's cycling competence that are related to biological factors, such as age and gender, and psychological factors, such as rule compliance and choice of cycling speed.     

ADHD儿童在钟表绘画测验中的执行功能特征

目的研究ADHD儿童在钟表绘画(CDT)测试中体现出的执行功能特征。方法对60例ADHD儿童和60例正常对照儿童进行CDT测试,综合分析两组儿童的大脑额叶执行功能的差异。结果ADHD儿童在CDT测试中的时间总分和构造总分低于对照组(3.23±1.40/4.15±0.78,11.2±1.48/11.90±0.76,t=7.742、5.073,P<0.01)。在给定十字位相标定点(3、6、9、12点)后ADHD儿童的钟面构造得分高于给定标定点之前(11.93±0.95/11.19±1.48,t=5.645,P<0.001),但时间设置评分却没有明显的提高(P>0.05)。结论ADHD儿童CDT测试得分偏低体现了其存在计划性、注意调控功能和工作记忆的缺陷,这些缺陷的核心问题是执行功能的缺陷。     

Concurrent visual task effects on evoked and emitted auditory p300 in adolescents

Using an oddball stimulus presentation paradigm, the effects of divided attention on auditory P300s were studied. Auditory attention was either divided or focused, depending on the demands placed on subjects during the performance of a concomitantly presented visual task. Two types of auditory tasks were performed under each of the two auditory attention conditions. In one, subjects responded to infrequently presented high pitched tones (oddball stimuli). In the other they responded to the occasional omission of a stimulus in an otherwise rhythmically presented chain of stimuli. P300s and reaction times were recorded to both the rare tones and the omissions. The Sternberg visual memory task was used to manipulate the subject's auditory attention state. Subjects actively performed the Sternberg task during the divided auditory attention condition, whereas during the focused attention condition they were not required to respond to the visual stimuli. During focused auditory attention, evoked auditory P300s were both larger and faster than their emitted counterparts. During divided attention, auditory P300s were reduced in amplitude but latency was unaffected. Evoked auditory P300s showed evidence of containing P300a as well as P300b components, particularly when attention was shared with the visual task.     

Attention during looking and reaching as assessed by heart rate in 7(1/2)-month-old infants

Attention mediates the acquisition and encoding of information about the world and is central to motor action. Heart rate deceleration and behavioral inhibition are sensitive indices of the attentional process, but it is unknown whether these indices are valid in the context of overt action. The current study investigated the relationship between visual attention, action, and heart rate during reaching in 7(1/2)-month-old infants. We found that infants showed prolonged looking and large heart rate decelerations on reaching and looking trials. We conclude that overt action itself does not prevent the autonomic and behavioral changes that are also seen in attention to simple visual displays and that attention is maintained throughout the act of reaching.     

Covert attention in touch: behavioral and ERP evidence for costs and benefits

To investigate the mechanism underlying tactile spatial attention, reaction times (RTs) and event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded in response to mechanical stimuli delivered to the hands. At the start of each trial cues indicated either the correct (valid) or incorrect (invalid) tactile stimulus location or were uninformative (neutral). RT costs (suppression of invalid compared to neutral trials) were found to be larger than benefits (enhancement of valid compared to neutral trials). ERPs showed that costs and benefits contribute equally to attentional modulations of the somatosensory N140 component, whereas these were largely due to costs at longer latencies. These results differ from the pattern of attentional ERP modulations previously found for vision and audition, where costs precede benefits, and therefore suggest that the mechanisms of attentional selectivity in touch might be different from attentional processes in other modalities.     

Visual spatial attention to stimuli presented on the vertical and horizontal meridian: An ERP study

In the first experiment, 48 subjects carried out a visual spatial attention task. Stimuli were presented at the vertical meridian, either above or below a fixation dot, and the subjects were instructed to attend to one of these stimulus positions and ignore the other position. In three different conditions, the distances between stimulus positions and fixation were 0.5°, 0.9°, and 1.3°. Subjects searched for the presence of prememorized target letters at the attended location: memory load was one or four items in different conditions. The P1/N1 enhancement typically found on the horizontal dimension was not observed on the vertical dimension. Instead, a positive shift of the attended compared with the unattended stimuli was found, which was most prominent at anterior electrodes. This positivity showed effects of the distance manipulation. The N2b-P3a effect of attention and the effect of memory load (search negativity) normally present in this kind of selective search task were also found. Reaction times were faster when attention was directed above fixation than when it was directed below fixation. The event-related potential data suggested that this difference could be attributed to a more efficient neglecting of irrelevant stimuli presented below fixation. In Experiment 2, we examined whether the absence of the P1/N1 enhancement as the result of spatial attention in Experiment 1 could be attributed to (a) the presentation of stimuli along the vertical meridian instead of along the horizontal meridian, (b) the use of midline electrodes instead of lateralized electrodes, and (c) the relatively small spatial separation between the relevant and irrelevant stimuli. Twelve subjects searched for the presence of a single target letter at an attended position in three different conditions. In two of the conditions the letters were presented to the left or right of fixation. The distance between fixation and the stimulus positions was 1.3° in one of these conditions and 3° in the other condition. In the third condition, the stimuli were presented at 3° above or below fixation. In all three conditions effects similar to those in Experiment 1 were observed. In addition, in all three conditions an enhancement of the P1 and N1 components was found at two lateral occipitotemporal electrodes.