One of the most popular misconceptions about attention is that it's all the frontal lobes. In its most crude application, it has parents, teachers, and even many clinicians thinking that inattentive = 'hypofrontal', and so in need of medication like stimulants that activate frontal-striatal pathways. Not so.
In fact, the other lobe of interest is the parietal lobe- that wonderful meeting place for shifting attention, spatial representation, and imagery, where primary sensory and motor areas converge to convey a sense of space and location based on cues of sight, sound, touch, position, and balance.
Hmmm. Now does this sound familiar? Getting in trouble for leaning on other kids, a poor sense of 'space', visual or auditory distractibility, inattentiveness, or hyperactivity? Some people will lump it with the attention deficit disorders, while for others, this is sensory integration or sensory processing dysfunction. But by profile, this is more the parietal pattern than frontal (sustained attention) - so sensory processing disorder is a better descriptive term.
Because of the complex intersection of diverse sensory areas, vestibular, and motor pathways in the parietal lobes, this area is ripe for multisensory training and rehabilitation. Because as we've mentioned before, the neurons that fire together wire together (Dr. Carla Shatz's slogan), the way to fine tune is to have integrative practice with sight, sound, touch, motor activity, and movement, rather than hoping for 'a pill' to hold the answer.
Also because the parietal lobes are so important for imagery and imagining, potential training benefits are also likely to extend beyond mundane but still important activities like hand-eye coordination and balance...into visualization and creative productivity.
Crossmodal Control of AttentionParietal Lobe and Visual Attention4 T-fMRI Study of Nonspatial Shifting of Selective AttentionERPs, Distractibility Parietal Adolescents - AbstractSensory Integration: Current Concepts and Practical ImplicationsSensory Processing Disorders in a Learning Disorders Clinic
In fact, the other lobe of interest is the parietal lobe- that wonderful meeting place for shifting attention, spatial representation, and imagery, where primary sensory and motor areas converge to convey a sense of space and location based on cues of sight, sound, touch, position, and balance.
Hmmm. Now does this sound familiar? Getting in trouble for leaning on other kids, a poor sense of 'space', visual or auditory distractibility, inattentiveness, or hyperactivity? Some people will lump it with the attention deficit disorders, while for others, this is sensory integration or sensory processing dysfunction. But by profile, this is more the parietal pattern than frontal (sustained attention) - so sensory processing disorder is a better descriptive term.
Because of the complex intersection of diverse sensory areas, vestibular, and motor pathways in the parietal lobes, this area is ripe for multisensory training and rehabilitation. Because as we've mentioned before, the neurons that fire together wire together (Dr. Carla Shatz's slogan), the way to fine tune is to have integrative practice with sight, sound, touch, motor activity, and movement, rather than hoping for 'a pill' to hold the answer.
Also because the parietal lobes are so important for imagery and imagining, potential training benefits are also likely to extend beyond mundane but still important activities like hand-eye coordination and balance...into visualization and creative productivity.
Crossmodal Control of Attention
Parietal Lobe and Visual Attention
4 T-fMRI Study of Nonspatial Shifting of Selective Attention
ERPs, Distractibility Parietal Adolescents - Abstract
Sensory Integration: Current Concepts and Practical ImplicationsSensory Processing Disorders in a Learning Disorders Clinic