Closed-loop stimulation modulates attention shifting in children.

Intracranial electrical stimulation in children with epilepsy predicts and prevents attention lapses, improving attention shifting across multiple days and populations.

• Why it matters: Disruptions in attentional flexibility are common in children with attention deficit disorders, impairing their ability to adapt to changing goals and environments. Understanding neural signatures of attention control could enable targeted interventions to improve cognitive function.
• What they did: Researchers used machine learning classifiers trained on intracranial signals during an attentional set-shifting task in children with epilepsy to predict delays in attention shifts and applied electrical stimulation to prevent lapses, while EEG identified scalp signatures for noninvasive modulation in healthy participants.
• The result: Findings suggest that real-time neural prediction and stimulation can rescue attention shifts, providing insights into the neural basis of attentional control and potential for neuromodulation therapies.