# DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINED ATTENTION IN INFANTS

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA AT COLUMBIA · 1994 · $116,719

## Abstract

The objectives are to study the development of sustained, endogenous
attention in young infants, and to relate developmental trends in
sustained attention to concurrent heart rate (HR) changes. The specific
aims are: 1) To study sustained, subject-controlled attention in infants
from 8 to 26 weeks of age, and to study the control of saccadic and
smooth pursuit eye movements during heart-rate-defined attention phases,
in order to infer the neuro-developmental systems controlling attention-
directed eye movements during attention; and 2) To study individual
differences in respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA; variability in HR
occurring at the respiration frequency) with respect to individual
differences in sustained attention, premature and full-term recognition
memory differences, and sleep assessment of RSA. The research may
provide a "model preparation" for the study of pathological patterns of
infant attention found in high-risk premature infants, and for the later
development of attentional disabilities found in hyperactive, autistic,
and retarded children. Infants will be tested from 8 to 26 weeks of age.
HR and respiration will be measured during a five minute baseline, and
during attention. Four experiments will study sustained attention in
light of other attention phases. Experiment 1 will examine the blink
reflex, an example of an early phase of information processing, in
different attention phases. Experiments 2 and 3 will examine peripheral
stimulus localization as a function of sustained attention. Experiment 4
will study the relation of attention to smooth pursuit and saccadic eye
movements during visual tracking. Two experiments will emphasize
individual differences in sustained attention related to RSA. Experiment
5 will examine the retrieval aspect of infant recognition memory in
preterm infants, who are known to have recognition memory and sustained
attention deficits. Experiment 6 will examine the longitudinal stability
of HR, respiration, and RSA during sleep states, and the relation of
those measures to sustained attention. It is predicted that 1) sustained
attention will show age and individual differences, whereas other
attention types will not; 2) developmental changes in sustained
attention will differentially affect behavioral systems, including
recognition memory in the paired-comparison paradigm, and different eye
movement systems.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 2197733
- **Project number:** 5R01HD018942-09
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA AT COLUMBIA
- **SAM.gov UEI:** J22LNTMEDP73
- **Principal Investigator:** JOHN E RICHARDS
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1994
- **Award amount:** $116,719
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1988-08-01 → 1997-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/2197733

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 2197733, DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINED ATTENTION IN INFANTS (5R01HD018942-09). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-26 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/2197733. Licensed CC0.

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