This review aims to present age-related changes in the neuroelectric responses of typically developing children (TDC) who are presumed to meet developmental stages appropriately. The review is based on findings from the frequently used neuropsychological tasks of active attention, where attention is deliberately focused versus passive attention where attention is drawn to a stimulus, facilitatory attention, which enhances the processing of a stimulus versus inhibitory attention, which suppresses the processing of a stimulus. The review discusses the early and late stages of attentional selectivity that correspond to early and late information processing. Age-related changes in early attentional selectivity were quantitatively represented in latencies of the event-related potential (ERP) components. Age-related changes in late attentional selectivity are also qualitatively represented by structural and functional reorganization of attentional processing and the brain areas involved. The purely bottom-up or top-down processing is challenged with age-related findings on difficult tasks that ensure a high cognitive load. TDC findings on brain oscillatory activity are enriched by findings from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The transition from the low to fast oscillations in TDC and ADHD confirmed the maturational lag hypothesis. The deviant topographical localization of the oscillations confirmed the maturational deviance model. The gamma-based match and utilization model integrates all levels of attentional processing. According to these findings and theoretical formulations, brain oscillations can potentially display the human brain\'s wholistic-integrative functions.

There is limited evidence regarding the effect of animation compared to static pictures on children\'s language development. The aim was to systematically review the available literature for evidence concerning the effect of brief animation on spoken language responses (receptive-listening or expressive-speaking) in typically developing (TD) children aged 3 to 9 years. Five databases were searched, resulting in seven included studies. The characteristics of animated stimuli, the manner of presentation, and the language-related tasks were recorded, and questions were posed about the effect of brief animation on children\'s receptive and expressive language abilities. The evidence suggests that animation may have a positive effect on expressive language abilities of children compared to static pictures. As far as the effect of animation on receptive language performance is concerned, the evidence is less concrete. Future directions regarding the potential of animation on language development are discussed.

The present review focuses on the development of attention as indexed in the electrical activity of the brain under a systematic framework of attention-related paradigms and experimental tasks in typically developing children (TDC). The framework is organized according to the filter and selective-set paradigms of attention research and experimental tasks that these models commonly use. The first part of the review discusses age-variant changes in the event-related potentials (ERPs) of TDC. Age affects the parameters of the various attention-related components (latencies and amplitudes) independently and differentially. The changes are mainly in the form of decreasing latencies, showing that aging increases the speed and efficiency of attentional processing. High task difficulty and cognitive load produce a shift in TDC from early selection, which involves a perceptual analysis, to late selection, which involves target detection. The second part of the review discusses attentional processing in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Relative to TDC, ERP differences in ADHD are mainly represented in component amplitudes, which normally vary according to task difficulty and cognitive load. The literature permits a review of the differences between children with ADHD and age-matched TDC in not only ERPs but also in resting electroencephalogram (EEG) and event-related oscillations (EROs). Some of the differences between children with ADHD and TDC are quantitative and in the form of maturational lag, while others are qualitative and in the form of maturational deviance. The early gamma-band response (GBR) appears to be a significant biomarker of ADHD. The match-and-utilization model, which delineates the pervasive role that early GBR plays in the bottom-up and top-down processes of attention, applies to ADHD. The integrative approach of the present review reveals the gaps in the relevant literature and suggests directions for future studies by way of which a comprehensive understanding of ADHD may be possible.

The collection of salivary cortisol has been chosen as one of the least intrusive, easiest to collect, analyze, and store methods of obtaining information on physiological changes. It is, however, not clear what the best practice is when collecting salivary cortisol from children within the school setting. The aim of this systematic review is to evaluate the feasibility of cortisol collection in schools for future research and to make recommendations for best practice. The review included 25 peer-reviewed articles from seven databases. The hypotheses of the included studies vary, but they all use cortisol as a diurnal, baseline, or acute measure, or to measure the effect of an intervention. Two methods of salivary cortisol collection were preferred by most of the research, i.e., passive drool or cotton Salivettes. The review has concluded that cortisol is a physiological marker that can be successfully measured in school-based research. However, there are discrepancies across studies when evaluating the collection guidelines, protocols, and instructions to participants as well as transparency of the success rate of obtaining all samples. Recommendations are made for future research to address and avoid such discrepancies and improve cross-study comparisons by implementing standard protocol guidelines.