Journal article
Visual orienting and attention deficits in 5- and 10-month-old preterm infants
Infant behavior & development, Vol.46, pp.80-90
02/2017
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/103983
PMID: 28061376
Abstract
•New attentional assessment task for use with preterm and fullterm infants, Infant Orienting With Attention (IOWA) Task.•Compared 108 preterm and fullterm infants on visual spatial attention, visual competition, saccade speed, and accuracy.•Preterm infants showed early deficits in saccade speed and accuracy, and later deficits in spatial attention.•Spatial attention deficit apparent in reflexive saccade speed, and responses that required inhibition of automatic saccades.•Infant visual orienting measures may pinpoint early deficits in foundational skills, and inform future intervention efforts.
Cognitive outcomes for children born prematurely are well characterized, including increased risk for deficits in memory, attention, processing speed, and executive function. However, little is known about deficits that appear within the first 12 months, and how these early deficits contribute to later outcomes. To probe for functional deficits in visual attention, preterm and full-term infants were tested at 5 and 10 months with the Infant Orienting With Attention task (IOWA; Ross-Sheehy, Schneegans and Spencer, 2015). 5-month-old preterm infants showed significant deficits in orienting speed and task related error. However, 10-month-old preterm infants showed only selective deficits in spatial attention, particularly reflexive orienting responses, and responses that required some inhibition. These emergent deficits in spatial attention suggest preterm differences may be related to altered postnatal developmental trajectories. Moreover, we found no evidence of a dose-response relation between increased gestational risk and spatial attention. These results highlight the critical role of postnatal visual experience, and suggest that visual orienting may be a sensitive measure of attentional delay. Results reported here both inform current theoretical models of early perceptual/cognitive development, and future intervention efforts.
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Details
- Title
- Visual orienting and attention deficits in 5- and 10-month-old preterm infants
- Creators
- Shannon Ross-Sheehy - Department of Psychology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, United StatesSammy Perone - Department of Human Development, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, United StatesKelsi L Macek - Department of Behavioral Sciences, Purdue University Northwest, Hammond, IN 46323, United StatesBret Eschman - Department of Psychology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, United States
- Publication Details
- Infant behavior & development, Vol.46, pp.80-90
- Academic Unit
- Human Development, Department of
- Publisher
- Elsevier Inc
- Identifiers
- 99900547062201842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article