Sustained attention

Warm, J. S. (1984). (Ed.). Sustained Attention in Human Performance. New York Wiley. 

Baer, R., Effects of caffeine on classroom behavior, sustained attention, and a memory task in preschool childern. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis 20(3), 225-234, 1987. 

Brice C and Smith A (2001). The effects of caffeine on simulated driving, subjective alertness and sustained attention. Human Psychopharmacology, 16, 523-531. 

Based on their unique structures and complicated ring skeletons, the Lycopodium alkaloids have attracted sustained attention from the synthetic community [2e, 17]. Our synthesis of serratezomine A (1) [18] currently stands alone, but the structural similarity between serratezomine A and serratinine (4) compels a discussion of prior work towards the latter. This includes syntheses of the framework [19] of serratinine (4) or similar molecules and one total synthesis [20]. 

Brockel, B. J., Cory-Slechta, D. A. (1999). The effects of postweaning low-level Pb exposure on sustained attention a study of target densities, stimulus presentation rate, and stimulus predictability. 

Although caffeine increases response speed in some visual attention taste, it is apparently not due to decreased distractibility or suppression of irrelevant responses (Kenemans and Verbaten 1998). Cognitive decline is evident during withdrawal from caffeine, primarily on measures of response time and sustained attention (Bernstein et al. 1998). The degree of habitual caffeine use is the strongest variable predicting the response to caffeine in a visual attention task (Loke and Meliska 1984). 

Similar to caffeine, theophylline produces improvement on sustained attention tasks (Bryant et al. 1998), but caffeine appears to be a more potent CNS stimulant (Yu et al. 1991). Caffeine improves the accuracy of reaction time tasks in hyperkinetic children (Reichard and Elder 1977). 

Human newborns of mothers who smoke cannabis during pregnancy experience mild withdrawal symptoms and some autonomic disruption upon childbirth (Fried 1995a, 1995b). Although behavioral consequences are not apparent until 3 years of age, decrements in languange comprehension, sustained attention, memory, and behavior are related to in utero cannabis exposure. 

Mirza NR, Stolerman IP. (1998). Nicotine enhances sustained attention in the rat under specific task conditions. Psychopharmacology (Berlin). 138(3-4) 266-74. 

Himmelheber AM, Sarter M, Bruno JP. 2000. Increases in cortical acetylcholine release during sustained attention performance in rats. Brain Res Cogn Brain Res 9(3) 313-325. 

Table 4 Neural activation associated with sustained attention and working memory... 

Lawrence and colleagues (2002) explored the neural substrates of nicotine effects on sustained attention using the rapid visual information processing (RVIP) task. Smokers (n = 15) received either placebo or 21-mg transdermal nicotine patch prior to testing. Matched nonsmokers (n = 14) were tested under similar conditions, but did not receive a nicotine patch. Relative to the placebo condition, the smokers in the nicotine condition demonstrated improved task performance and increased neural activity in the parietal and occipital cortices, the thalamus and caudate, and decreased activity in left frontal, anterior and posterior cingulate, insula, and left parahippocampal regions (see Fig. 3). As noted by the authors, previous studies... 

Attentional or cognitive impairments have also been observed in rodent models of nicotine withdrawal. These include impaired performance of a test of sustained attention (Shoaib and Bizarro 2005), disrupted contextual fear conditioning (Davis and Gould 2007 Davis et al. 2005), disrupted operant behaviors (Vann et al. 2006), and decreased prepulse inhibition, a test of selective attention (Semenova et al. 2003). 

Shoaib M, Bizarro L (2005) Deficits in a sustained attention task following nicotine withdrawal in rats. Psychopharmacology 178 211-222... 

This disorder is characterised by inappropriate levels of activity, a high frequency of periods of frustration and distraction and hence inability to sustain attention and to concentrate on one activity for a prolonged period of time. A surprising finding is that amphetamine administration, which normally increases or facilitates activity, rapidly and markedly improves behaviour. Patients become calm and their alertness is enhanced. A drug that has been used is methylphenidate (Ritalin). One interesting and recent development is the improvement in the condition by supplementation of the diet with polyunsaturated fatty acids, particularly the omega-3 acids in fish oils (See Chapter 11). 

Hyperactivity- For the short-term treatment of hyperactive children who show excessive motor activity with accompanying conduct disorders consisting of some or all of the following symptoms Impulsivity, difficulty sustaining attention, aggressivity, mood lability, and poor frustration tolerance. 

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