Attention deficits can be common after brain injuries and may impact people in various ways, yet there are strategies that may help address them, including structured treatment procedures which gradually increase demands on attention components.
Alternating and selective attention exercises are two examples of this form of therapy, where users need to track and select the desired symbol from a grid that contains multiple similar-looking icons.
Tasks that target alternating attention
One of the key cognitive skills for patients to master is “alternating attention.” Alternating attention involves shifting your focus between tasks that require different levels of mental flexibility, making this skill challenging to practice in everyday situations where multiple tasks need to be managed simultaneously (for instance driving while talking on the phone or cooking while listening to news broadcasts).
A variety of tasks and exercises can assist in honing this attention skill, such as Constant Therapy’s Find the Same Symbols and Find Alternating Symbols exercises that involve scanning grids of symbols with increasing numbers and complexity of detail for Find alternating and Find Same symbols tasks respectively. Each level requires scanning for symbols more slowly until all required elements have been found correctly in order. Such challenges test various abilities including visual attention, executive functioning and visuospatial memory while demanding high degrees of self-monitoring to ensure all necessary elements have been selected accurately.
HappyNeuron Pro offers these tasks through its comprehensive collection of attention and concentration exercises and activities designed to stimulate brain cell activity. It includes tasks that target sustained attention, selective attention and alternating attention subcomponents; in addition to training procedures that combine single tasks into dual task procedures for increased demands on attention.
Trail Making Test B (Reitan, 1958) is an effective way of cultivating alternating attention. Participants are presented with 25 circles containing letters and numbers and asked to connect them as accurately as possible using a pen – this task involves both visual and alternating attention skills simultaneously and can be made even more challenging by adding auditory distractors. Another method for training attention span is Rule Shift Cards test which presents participants with cards displaying different rules which they must quickly respond to as quickly and accurately as possible.
Tasks that target sustained attention
Sustained attention tasks involve the ability to concentrate for extended periods without becoming distracted, which is an integral skill in many activities like listening to lectures or conversations, reading, and following instructions. Unfortunately, brain injuries can affect this concentration and focus, potentially due to frontal lobe damage, stroke trauma or trauma and even stroke itself; symptoms typically accompany these cognitive deficits with additional impairments like aphasia among others.
Though there are numerous approaches to increasing attention, the most effective ones involve clinician-guided interventions designed to strengthen focus and concentration among patients. These may include training procedures which place gradually increasing demands on attentional capacity while simultaneously using visual or auditory distractors that aid performance on target tasks.
These techniques are especially helpful in treating deficits related to alternating and selective attention. Some tasks measure patients’ abilities to connect circles with numbers and letters ascending or descending on a page, such as the Trail Making Test B (Reitan, 1958). Other tests like Rule Shift Cards test (subtest from Behavioral Assessment of Dysexecutive Syndrome by Wilson et al. in 1998) require them to track and respond to changing rules printed at the bottom of each card.
Sustained attention requires the ability to quickly transition between different tasks, for instance between cooking and having a conversation or watching television and helping a child with homework. People struggling with sustained attention may have trouble switching tasks quickly or maintaining conversations after phone calls or losing their place while reading.
Researchers have demonstrated that although computer-based tasks may help train attentional components, only therapist-guided interventions can yield significant gains in these skills – this is especially true for TBI or stroke victims with attentional deficits.
Tasks that target selective attention
Attention deficits are common among those with cognitive-communication disorders. These impairments can influence all aspects of communication – speech production as well as language production – but there are treatments available to overcome them; such as therapeutic tasks and exercises focused on rehabilitating attention.
Tasks and exercises such as these can help patients improve their ability to focus on a task while filtering out distractions, which is especially critical for those suffering from an attention disorder such as an acquired brain injury. The aim is for patients to learn how to concentrate for longer periods of time while improving accuracy and efficiency of performance.
When undertaking these tasks, it’s best to practice in an atmosphere with no distractions or interruptions. Furthermore, patients should do each task slowly and take their time so as not to become discouraged during practice sessions; doing this ensures they continue practicing until it is completed successfully.
Attention deficits come in various forms and require tailored approaches for treatment. For instance, selective attention issues caused by damage to the frontal lobes may need remediation through gradual increases in demands placed upon the brain through training procedures that increase in difficulty over time.
An average classroom can contain many visual, auditory, interoceptive, and tactile stimuli that could prove distracting to a student – from buzzing flys in the room to snowflakes falling outside, coughing classmates coughing in hallways or the sound of the janitor’s cart rattling past, to hunger pangs rumbling through your stomach before lunch time arrives. Selective attention allows students to choose which stimuli to focus on while disregarding others.
Tasks that target divided attention
Attention plays an integral part of everyday life, especially at work or school. Individuals with impaired divided attention may struggle to keep track of multiple things at the same time and switch tasks effectively, creating difficulties that interfere with everyday tasks or routine. Speech therapists use various tasks that target divided attention – for instance playing games that challenge children to simultaneously work on two activities at the same time – in order to address this issue and strengthen thinking capacity and skillsets.
Typical tasks used to evaluate attention include digit span subtests (sustained attention) and cancellation tasks (alternating attention), but these do not adequately cover all aspects of attentional function. Therefore, neuropsychological assessments should include multiple forms of attention tests which may help detect impairments across subtypes such as focused, sustained, selective and alternating attention.
Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT) measures focused and sustained attention by presenting stimuli one at a time while asking participants to respond in an auditory fashion to each stimulus presented. The PASAT was specifically created to detect both errors as well as inattentive processing; making it an excellent way of measuring attention.
There are also other methods for assessing attention, including the Trail Making Test and Attention Process Training Test. Both tools are affordable or free and offer valuable insight into an individual’s attention deficits; results will allow healthcare providers to determine if any type of attention deficit requires treatment, as well as determine an individualized attentional training regimen is necessary.
Beyond these tools, there are various other activities that can help train attention. Active music making is an excellent way to train both alternating and sustained focus; clients will need to track and respond to pitch, tempo, rhythm cues while shifting their attention between these various cues while performing on instruments such as piano or guitar.
