The Attention System

By Lynn L. West, PhDc, BCETS, LCPC

Lynn L. West & Associates, LLC

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The Attention System

The attention system in the human brain is governed by multiple neural systems that contribute to 18 specific areas of attentional functioning and behavioral regulation. The attention system underlies all cognitive operational functioning associated with the modulation of attention, impulse control, and motor activity. Disruption of the neurobiological substrates underpinning the attention system are observed as behavioral symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity with impulsivity or impulsivity without hyperactivity. The symptoms are observed in at least two different social settings (e.g., home, school, and/or the workplace) and they negatively impact on social, occupational, and/or academic achievement.

Attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) involves neurobiological disruptions of the neuropathways of the central nervous system serving cognitive operational functioning. Symptomatic expression tends to be exacerbated by psychosocial factors such as stress associated with high-demand situations or unstructured situations. ADHD also coexists with learning and communication disorders as well as with motor disorders.

Thus, the diagnosis of ADHD is made when the ADHD symptoms do not occur exclusively during the course of a pervasive developmental disorder, schizophrenia, or other psychotic disorder and/or are not accounted for by another mental disorder (such as mood disorder, anxiety disorder, dissociative disorder, or a personality disorder, which could include conduct disorder or oppositional defiant disorder).

Learning problems commonly co-occur with attention system dysregulation involving reading, spelling, arithmetic, and handwriting as well as in other domains of information processing. Learning disabilities involve difficulties with the speed, pace, and amount of information presented in visual, verbal and written formats. Specifically, often there are deficits in encoding and acquisition of new information due to the inefficient or limited use of metacognitive skills essential to the development of working short-term memory and deficits associated with organization and planning.

Elizabeth Stuller, M.D., a psychiatrist working in the areas of addiction, brain processing and cognitive functioning at the Daniel Amen, M.D. Clinic in Reston, Virginia has identified through SPECT imaging studies the following neutriceudicals as having as significant an impact in improving blood flow in the brain that is nearly equivalent to the results of improved blood flow seen in studies of psychostimulant medicine Omega-3

Essential Fatty Acids (2000mg daily), a good multivitamin (daily), and Co-enzyme Q-10 (200mg daily).

Eating healthy, three meals a day (20-30 grams of protein at each meal), in a diet consisting of approximately 70% protein, fruit, and vegetables will go a long way in improving disruptions involving attentional distractions and behavior problems that are not ameliorated by pharmacological intervention.