Faculty Collaboration Database

Visual attention in preschool children prenatally exposed to cocaine: implications for behavioral regulation. J Int Neuropsychol Soc 2002 Jan;8(1):12-21

Date

02/15/2002

Pubmed ID

11843069

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-0036164169 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   45 Citations

Abstract

The presence of cocaine during the prenatal period disrupts the development of neural systems involved in mediating visual attention; therefore, it is possible that prenatal cocaine exposure results in impairments in visual attention in early childhood. In the current study we hypothesized that preschool children with prenatal cocaine exposure would exhibit difficulties in the disengagement operation of visual attention and in sustaining attention, particularly for targets presented in the right visual field. Fourteen cocaine-exposed children and 20 control children between 14 and 60 months of age were assessed on measures of visual attention, cognition, and behavior. Cocaine-exposed children had slower reaction times on disengagement trials in the second half of our attention task, supporting our hypotheses that impairments in disengagement and sustained attention are associated with prenatal cocaine exposure. There was a trend for slower reaction times to targets presented in the right visual field, but not to targets presented in the left visual field. Cocaine-exposed children also exhibited greater difficulties in behavioral regulation. Overall, our findings suggest that children with prenatal cocaine exposure demonstrate specific impairments in visual attention and behavioral regulation.

Author List

Heffelfinger AK, Craft S, White DA, Shyken J

Author

Amy Heffelfinger PhD Professor in the Neurology department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adult
Attention
Case-Control Studies
Cerebral Cortex
Child Behavior
Child, Preschool
Cocaine
Female
Humans
Infant
Male
Narcotics
Neuropsychological Tests
Orientation
Pattern Recognition, Visual
Pregnancy
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects
Research Design
Temperament