Visual orienting and attention deficits in 5- and 10-month-old preterm infants

Abstract

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.

Visual attention control differences in 12-month-old preterm infants

“…Taken together, this can be interpreted as evidence for poorer attention allocation in the preterm infants compared to their full-term counterparts. These findings are in line with what has been reported in studies investigating executive functions in very preterm infants using behavioural tasks and behavioural coding measures (Rose et al, 2001;Ross-Sheehy et al, 2017;Sun et al, 2009;Stroganova, Posikera, & Pisarevskii, 2005).…”

“…Most studies have relied on behavioural coding measures to investigate early executive development in infants born preterm (Rose, Feldman, & Jankowski, 2001; Ross-Sheehy, Perone, Macek, & Eschman, 2017;Sun, Mohay, & O'Callaghan, 2009). Eyetracking methodology complements behavioural findings as it is less prone to human error and has higher spatial and temporal resolution than traditional behavioural looking methods (Wass, Smith, & Johnson, 2012).…”

“…Early executive markers such as processing speed, attention fixation, distractor suppression, and IOR, have not been previously investigated in healthy infants born preterm with the exception of two studies which looked at visual orienting and attention in preterm infants using behavioural coding measures (Rose et al, 2001;Ross-Sheehy et al, 2017). Evaluating the development of specific executive skills in very preterm infants with eye-tracking methodology will establish the sensitivity of this research tool with this patient population and demonstrate the potential utility of this tool in future clinical assessment in terms of developing targeted interventions.…”

Executive Function and Attention in Children Born Prematurely

“…Premature children are more vulnerable to developmental and behavioural delays (Taheri, et al, 2017). These delays can have lasting negative effects that extend into adolescence and adulthood (Ross-Sheehy, Perone, Macek, & Eschman, 2017). Previous studies have show that premature infants have reduced performance in tasks such as attention and executive functioning (Head et al, 2015;Hüning et al, 2017;Ross-Sheehy et al, 2017).…”

“…These delays can have lasting negative effects that extend into adolescence and adulthood (Ross-Sheehy, Perone, Macek, & Eschman, 2017). Previous studies have show that premature infants have reduced performance in tasks such as attention and executive functioning (Head et al, 2015;Hüning et al, 2017;Ross-Sheehy et al, 2017). Several studies have shown that delays in executive functions are associated with lower academic achievement (Hüning et al, 2017).…”