Developmental Disorders of Attention

Abstract

The goal of the chapter is to explore different meanings of attention in the context of two neurodevelopmental disorders. Although it has been conceptualized as a unitary construct, attention refers to a variety of cognitive processes. The chapter begins with an overview of research on three commonly used meanings of attention in the cognitive neuroscience literature: selective, executive, and sustained attention. Next, a brief summary of research on these aspects of attention in schizophrenia and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is presented. The final section concludes with a consideration of potential contributions of cognitive neuroscience to an understanding of disorders of attention and potential contributions of research on developmental disorders of attention to an understanding of the cognitive and neurobiological substrates of attentional development.