Attentional Network Task - Revised (ANT-R)

Background

The Attentional Network Task (ANT), originally introduced by Jin Fan and colleagues in 2002, is a cognitive behavioral assessment tool of different attentional components referred to as 'attentional networks': Alerting ('vigilance'), Orienting ('selective attention'), and Executive Attention (in the form of conflict resolution). Fan and colleagues published the Revised Attentional Network Task (ANT-R) in 2009 as a comprehensive revision of the ANT to improve the measurement of all three networks and their interactions. It includes more complex conflict conditions (including response hand and flanker location conflicts as well as cue validity manipulations) and can be further enriched with mouse tracking data.

Task Procedure

The participant sees 2 rectangular boxes located left and right to a central fixation cross. A configuration of 5 arrows appears in one of the boxes. The 5 arrows either all point in the same direction or the central arrow points in the opposite direction of its flanking arrows. The participant has to press as fast as possible the left response button if the central arrow points to the left or the right response button if the central arrow points to the right (irrespective of where the flanking arrows point). The arrow configuration may be preceded by a brief visual cue. In the example below, both boxes briefly get highlighted ('double cue condition') signaling that the arrow configuration will come along shortly ('alerting) but providing no location suggestion ('no orienting').

What it Measures

The Revised Attentional Network Task (ANT-R) is a cognitive behavioral test to measure the effects of three attentional networks on accuracy and response times.

Psychological domains

• Attention: Assessment of Attentional Networks
• Vigilance: Measures the ability to achieve and maintain a state of high sensitivity to incoming stimuli
• Selective Attention: Measures the ability to select information from sensory input by directing attention to a specific location in space
• Executive Control: Measures the ability to resolve conflict among competing stimuli, involving response inhibition and decision-making

Main Performance Metrics

• alertingEffect: The effect of alerting signals on response speed and performance
• orientingEffect: The effect of orientation signals on response speed and performance
• flankerConflictEffect: The cost effect of flanker incongruence on response speed and performance
• locationConflictEffect: The cost effect of invalid spatial signals on response speed and performance ("validityEffect")

Psychiatric Conditions

ANT performance tends to be impaired in patients with the following psychiatric conditions.

• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
• Schizophrenia
• Major Depressive Disorder
• Anxiety Disorders
• Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)