Inside the AND Lab: Unlocking Neural Mechanisms in Autism, ADHD, and How Children Learn to Focus

Navigating developmental differences, such as ADHD and Autism, remains an increasingly widespread challenge for millions of families. The most recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) figures show that approximately 1 in 31 children (up from 1 in 36 in previous cycles) are identified with autism and nearly 1 in 9 children now live with an ADHD diagnosis.

For Dr. Andrew Lynn, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Director of the Attention in NeuroDevelopment (AND) Lab at the University of Louisville, addressing those challenges begins by decoding the foundational mechanics of the developing brain. As part of the Louisville Clinical & Translational Research Center's (LCTRC) Presidential Scholars program, Dr. Lynn is spearheading innovative research into how visual attention drives perception across childhood development.

From Pilot Insights to a Major NIH R15 Grant

Dr. Lynn’s current momentum builds directly upon an LCTRC pilot award, which served as a crucial springboard for securing a competitive National Institutes of Health (NIH) R15 grant. While the timing of the awards brought simultaneous operational pivots, the combined resources have allowed his lab to fine-tune complex experimental designs before launching full-scale data collection.

At the core of the R15 project is a sophisticated psychophysics paradigm. Rather than relying on traditional, lengthy behavioral tasks, Dr. Lynn’s team utilizes a Bayesian adaptive computational model. This computational approach dynamically determines the most informative stimulus to present on each trial, allowing him to accurately measure a child's contrast sensitivity functions in approximately 15 minutes.

The Landscape of Attention in Middle Childhood

By focusing specifically on middle childhood (ages 6 to 12) through a multi-year longitudinal study, Dr. Lynn aims to answer a fundamental question: When visual attention is momentarily biased toward a specific location, does it actually alter how a child perceives that stimulus?

Drawing inspiration from adult visual phenomena documented by researchers like Dr. Marisa Carrasco at NYU, where spatial attention provides a subtle boost to contrast sensitivity, Dr. Lynn is investigating whether children experience a similar momentary enhancement. By splitting data across high and low spatial frequencies (fine details vs broad shapes), the lab is working to map out how these cognitive and perceptual systems mature.

Bridging Basic Science and Clinical Translation

Through clinical shadowing experiences with Dr. Grace Kuravackel at the Autism Center, Dr. Lynn has observed firsthand the clinical variability and comorbidities that inform his lab's approach. By establishing robust baseline metrics in typical development, the lab's framework creates a pathway to investigate how children with autism or ADHD attend differently. While emphasizing that the work remains grounded in basic science, Dr. Lynn notes its long-term potential to inform targeted behavioral or pharmacological interventions down the line.

"If we can understand how these neural mechanisms operate in the context of attention and development, we can figure out which pathways to target," Dr. Lynn explains.

As the AND Lab prepares for active data collection utilizing advanced eye-tracking infrastructure in the Davidson building, Dr. Lynn hopes to pinpoint specific neural layers and circuits. This foundational understanding could eventually allow researchers to collaborate with clinicians in developing specialized visual training and video-game-based behavioral interventions to help children improve their attention and perception.

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