Human Clinical Studies Of Attention Disorders

National Institute Of Mental Health

Investigators

Abstract

During the past three years, the emphasis on this project in the Section has shifted to consideration of the various disorders of attention that are accompaniments of neuropsychiatric, metabolic, genetic, trauma-induced and environmentally-caused disorders. We have presented a model for a nosology of disorders of attention, and have applied it in various contexts. Most recently, we have applied it to a model of disordered attention in idiopathic (i.e., genetic) seizure disorders, where it seems to be a very useful heuristic. The model has been published as an invited chapter in a volume published by the NY Academy of Sciences on Adult Attention Deficit Disorder. (See publication below). In addition, we prepared an invited chapter on the relation between cognitive factors and aggressive behavior for an edited volume on the neurobiology of criminal behavior. One of the points made in that chapter is that aggressive behavior can stem from impaired cognitive skills, and that poor attention is a key feature of this impairment.