Understanding short-term interactions between arousal and attention in infants and children: applying the Aston-Jones framework.

Differential Susceptibility Theory explains long-term associations between neurobiological sensitivity and cognitive outcomes, but no comparable theoretical framework exists to understand how neurobiological sensitivity and cognitive performance inter-relate on shorter time-frames. Here, we evaluate a framework proposed by Aston-Jones and colleagues, building on the Yerkes-Dodson model, to understand these associations. The framework describes how slow-moving (tonic) changes in autonomic arousal relate to fast (phasic) changes, as observed for example relative to experimenter-determined events, and how phasic changes relate to attention. Larger phasic changes, which associate with better selective attention, are most likely at mid-level tonic arousal. Smaller phasic changes, and worse selective attention, are observed at hypo-and hyper-arousal. We review the fit of this model to typical and atypical development, during infancy and childhood.