The Impact of Motivation on Sustained Attention in Very Preterm and Term-born Children: An ERP Study

Retzler, Jenny; Groom, Madeleine J.; Johnson, Samantha; Cragg, Lucy

Abstract

Objective:
To compare the effect of motivational features on sustained attention in children born very preterm and at term.

Method:
EEG was recorded while 34 8-to-11-year-old children born very preterm and 34 term-born peers completed two variants of a cued continuous performance task (CPT-AX); a standard CPT-AX with basic shape stimuli, and structurally similar motivating variant, with a storyline, familiar characters, and feedback.

Results:
Higher hit rates, quicker response times and larger event-related potential (ERP) amplitudes were observed during the motivating, compared with the standard, task. Although groups did not differ in task performance, between-task differences in ERPs associated with orienting were larger in term-born than very preterm children.

Conclusion:
The findings add to previous evidence of disruption to the brain networks that support salience detection and selective attention in children born preterm. Manipulations that increase intrinsic motivation can promote sustained attention in both term-born and very preterm children.

Citation

Retzler, J., Groom, M. J., Johnson, S., & Cragg, L. (2025). The Impact of Motivation on Sustained Attention in Very Preterm and Term-born Children: An ERP Study. Journal of Attention Disorders, 29(7), 569-588. https://doi.org/10.1177/10870547251313888

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 27, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Jan 28, 2025
• Publication Date: 2025-05
• Deposit Date: Jan 15, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 15, 2025
• Journal: Journal of Attention Disorders
• Print ISSN: 1087-0547
• Electronic ISSN: 1557-1246
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 29
• Issue: 7
• Pages: 569-588
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/10870547251313888
• Keywords: attention; very preterm; motivation; arousal
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/44228838
• Publisher URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10870547251313888