1. کارگاه تخصصی توانبخشی توجه
ATTENTION in AUTISM
Faezeh Dehghan. OTR. PhD student of neuroscience
Iran university of medical science
کارگاه تخصصی توانبخشی توجه
از سری کارگاه های آخر هفته های شناختی

2. ATTENTION
Attention refers to the activity of a set of brain networks that can influence the priority of the computations of other brain networks for access to consciousness
typical functions of attention :
obtaining and maintaining a state of vigilance or alertness
selection of sensory information
monitoring and resolving conflict between possible responses
Attention is involved in all cognitive functions as the gateway to voluntary control of thoughts, feelings, and actions, and is critical to the establishment of higher-level cognitive functions.

3. Attention comprises three separate functional components: Alerting
Orienting
Executive control

4. Attention functions : Alerting
Alertness is a basal function of arousal.
Alertness is the state of active attention by high sensory awareness such as being watchful and prompt to meet danger or emergency, or being quick to perceive and act. It is related to psychology as well as to physiology.
Arousal is the physiological and psychological state of being awoken or of sense organs stimulated to a point of perception.
It involves activation of the ascending reticular activating system (ARAS) in the brain, which mediates wakefulness, the autonomic nervous system, and the endocrine system, leading to increased heart rate and blood pressure and a condition of sensory alertness, mobility, and readiness to respond.
Arousal is mediated by several different neural systems. Wakefulness is regulated by the ARAS, which is composed of projections from five major neurotransmitter systems that originate in the brainstem and form connections extending throughout the cortex;
activity within the ARAS is regulated by neurons that release the neurotransmitters acetylcholine, norepinephrine, dopamine, histamine, and serotonin. Activation of these neurons produces an increase in cortical activity and subsequently alertness.

7. Posner distinguishes between alertness functions that modulate the responsiveness of the attentional system over brief and long periods of time and calls them ‘tonic’ and ‘phasic arousal’
a state of general arousal (tonic arousal) tonic arousal varies characteristically in the course of the day, and, on the other hand, the capability of increasing the general level of attention with regard to an expected event (phasic arousal).

8. Attention functions : Alerting
In the long-term regulation of wakefulness: tonic arousal is maintained by the arousal system
Tonic arousal is manifested in the variability in performance levels between sleep, drowsiness, and different levels of alertness throughout the course of the day
Tonic arousal is maintained by the reticular system of the brain stem which is modulated by time and activity factors or internal and external factors.
In clinical terms, the various degrees of consciousness ranging from:
coma,
unresponsiveness,
disorientation
a state of drowsiness to complete clarity and responsiveness

9. Attention functions : Alerting
Phasic arousal refers to the temporary modulation of the attention system in expectation of or in response to a relevant stimulus
According to Posner and Petersen (1990), the phasic alertness response has less of an influence on stimulus processing than on the conditions for a rapid reaction
A phasic alertness reaction can be triggered by both external and internal factors :
corresponding to a stimulus
an intentionally driven direction of the attentional focus.

10. Attention functions : Alerting
An intentionally triggered increase in the phasic arousal level takes place through
the expectation of a relevant event on the basis of the knowledge of a situation
by the observation of a cue that is recognized as being meaningful.
A stimulus-driven increase in phasic arousal occurs through the confrontation with an unexpected or an intense stimulus or with an attractive, aversive, or frightening stimulus

11. Attention functions : Alerting
The components of alertness modulate the responsiveness of the system and thus provide the necessary resources for selective attention.
The ability to maintain attention using mental effort over a longer period of time is sustained attention or vigilance
tonic arousal is closely associated with the aspect of sustained attention’ or ‘vigilance

12. Attention functions : Alerting
Alerting functions further divided into tonic and phasic alertness.
Tonic (or intrinsic) alertness reflects general wakefulness and arousal
Phasic alertness refers to changes in response readiness to a target, often following an external warning stimulus

13. Attention functions (Orienting )
Orienting function involves the selection of specific information from numerous sensory inputs.
Orienting can be reflexive (exogenous): as when a sudden target event directs attention to its location
or it can be more voluntary (endogenous): as when a person searches the visual field looking for a target.
Orienting that involves head and/or eye movements toward the target is called overt orienting,
orienting that does not involve head and/or eye movement is referred to as covert orienting.

14. disengaging attention from its current focus
Orienting involves rapid or slow shifting of attention among objects within a modality or among various sensory modalities, and has three elementary operations
disengaging attention from its current focus
moving attention to the new target
engaging attention on the new target

16. Attention functions(Executive control)
The executive control function of attention involves the engagement of more complex mental operations during monitoring and resolving conflict between computations or responses

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