Selective sustained attention: a developmental foundation for cognition

Higher-order cognition, particularly in real-life settings, often requires that parts of the sensory input be processed at the exclusion of others over a period of time. Consequently, this review focuses on the development of attention that is both selective (which entails processing parts of the sensory input at the exclusion of others) and sustained (which entails maintaining sensitivity to incoming stimuli for a period of time). Recent findings from four distinct areas of research reviewed here suggest that: (1) the underlying neural circuitry of selective sustained attention involves multiple cortical and subcortical brain regions; (2) selective sustained attention in infancy provides a developmental foundation for the emergence of executive function later in life; (3) suppression-based mechanisms of attentional selection that begin to emerge during the first year of life are important for memory and learning; and (4) selective sustained attention appears to be malleable through pre-natal and post-natal nutritional supplementation and interactions with mature social partners.