A History of the Neuropsychology of Impaired Attention

The history of attention studies in neuropsychology is in many ways a history of all of neuropsychology. Many clinical groups have been studied, and there has been extensive research aimed at relating aspects of attentive behavior to underlying brain structures. In addition, models of the different components of attention have been proposed, dating back nearly 40 years. This review, by nature and necessity selective, begins with early descriptions of symptoms seen in clinical groups and discusses more recent findings, including impaired attention in various disorders, the possible etiology(ies) of impaired attention, and behavioral and psychophysiological studies of attention. Also reviewed are animal models of attention and attention disturbance, the neuroanatomical bases of attention, and speculations on the relation between our concepts of attention and consciousness.