Professor Edmund Sonuga-Barke will lead one of two data collection sites as Co-Principal Investigator on a grant to receive a £500,000 award from MQ: Transforming Mental Health for a ground-breaking project Attention Control Training for Infants at risk of Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
ADHD is one of the most common childhood disorders, affecting up to 5% of the general population, and can significantly impact on education, social and life outcomes.
It is thought that ADHD symptoms start in infancy well before it is likely to be diagnosed. Drug treatments are effective, but not appropriate for young children and are only licensed for children aged over 6 years.
This project, one of just 4 chosen from 200 applications, will take a radical new approach to developing early interventions for ADHD based on the theory that targeting specific aspects of attention early in development can improve cognitive development and behaviour and reduce the risk of developing ADHD later on.
Project data will be gathered at the Universities of Southampton and London. You can find more information here.