DEVELOPMENT OF VISUAL ATTENTION

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This is a request for an ADAMHA, Research Scientist Development Award, Level II. The purpose of this proposal is to allow the Principal Investigator to develop his career in mental health research. This will be done by extending the current research areas of the PI to new ones furthering collaboration of the PI with several researchers in the mental health and alcoholism field, and providing for continuing professional development of the research. The objectives of the research goals 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 the selectivity of sustained attention in relation to other visual systems;. 2) To study information processing occurring during sustained attention; 3) To extend the study of heart-rate-defined visual attention phases to new stimuli and naturalistic stimulus conditions. These aims form the major goals of the proposed RSDA support. Two secondary aims of the Research Scientist Development award are to establish collaborative relationships. These aims are: 4) To study attentional dysfunctions in Respiratory Distress Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome infants, and to develop an animal model of attentional dysfunctions; 5) To improve methodological and measurement characteristics involved in the measurement of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA; variability in heart rate occurring at the respiration frequency). The research covers basic research in the development of sustained attention in infants The research on sustained attention may provide a "model preparation" for the development of attentional disabilities found in hyperactive, autistic, and retarded children. The new collaborative projects of the PI will begin to explore the application of the sustained attention research to infants with attention pathologies. Professional development and the acquisition of new knowledge by the PI will be furthered by direct participation in this research. This RSDA application is particularly relevant to the goals and programs in the Behavioral Sciences Research Branch, of the Division of Basic Sciences, at the National Institute of Mental Health.