In the garden, butterflies flutter all around and in all directions. The task is to catch them with a virtual net, but only the blue ones. The red ones are a distraction. Sometimes they end up in the net by accident.

The task seems simple, but this experiment in a virtual reality (VR) headset that tracks a person’s eyes, head and hands can explain a lot about how distraction works. The tracking showed that some people caught those distracting red butterflies by accident more often. For people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), these simple mistakes caused by distractions can add up across their lives.

“We use attention seamlessly hundreds of times a day to gather sensory information and complete tasks,” said Joy Geng, a professor of psychology in the College of Letters and Science at UC Davis. “We often don't think about it until things don't work well.”

The experiment with the virtual garden in her lab at the Center for Mind and Brain was Geng’s first attempt at using VR. Since then, her work with VR has expanded. In collaboration with a colleague at the UC Davis School of Medicine, they are using VR to build a deeper understanding of ADHD. Their hope is that this work will lead to better diagnoses and treatments of attention disorders in children and adults.

Read the full article here: Focus on the Butterfly: New Research on Attention Seeks to Expand Tools to Support Children and Adults with Attention Deficits | lettersandsciencemag