In order to control for possible cognitive factors that may influence the performance on the task neuropsychological testing comprising attention [50], executive functions [51] and IQ [52] was administered.
According to a study [ 38], quality care comprises attention to psychological and social needs along with medical considerations.
The CDR tests selected for this study comprised three attention tests: simple reaction time, digit vigilance and choice reaction time; two working memory tasks: Spatial Working Memory and Numeric Working Memory; and three episodic memory tasks: immediate and delayed word recognition and picture recognition.
Attention control refers to the individuals' capacity to selectively attend some stimuli while ignoring others [ 63] which hence comprises selective attention and sustained attention, defined as the ability to voluntarily maintain the focus of attention to infrequently occurring critical events [ 64].
Among the 11 questions comprising the attention domain in the CBCL, only three capture symptoms of inattention ("Can't concentrate, can't pay attention for long", "Daydreams or gets lost in his/her thoughts", and "Stares blankly").
We used a blocked spatial attention task, comprising sustained covert visuospatial attention to checkerboards in one or other hemifield during successive bilateral stimuli or a more "neutral" baseline task (see below) during the same stimuli (see Fig. 1).
The attention test comprised four treatment levels designed by manipulating the number of distracters.
A 'sustained attention' condition comprised 10 presentations of the letter 'X'; subjects were instructed to watch the screen and press a response button upon seeing 'X'.
Additionally, a 'sustained-plus-selective attention' condition comprised 10 presentations of the letter 'X' and 10 presentations of the letter 'O' in a fixed random order; subjects were instructed to press the response button upon seeing the letter 'X', but not the letter 'O'.
Spatial attention comprises both, exogenous (externally-driven, bottom-up, involuntary, automatic) and endogenous (internally-driven, top-down, voluntary, non automatic) mechanisms.
