Brain, Vol 121, Issue 9 1759-1770, Copyright © 1998 by Oxford University Press
N Smania, MC Martini, G Gambina, G Tomelleri, A Palamara, E Natale and CA Marzi
We studied the visual field distribution of speed and accuracy of manual
responses to small brief light flashes, in patients with left hemineglect
or extinction resulting from right hemisphere vascular lesions and in
brain-damaged and healthy control subjects. All patients with right
hemisphere lesions showed a greater impairment in both the speed of
response and the detection rate in the contralesional than in the
ipsilesional hemifield. This interfield difference increased with the
eccentricity of stimulus presentation and was especially pronounced in
neglect patients who showed a paradoxical increase in speed of response and
detection rate at increasingly larger eccentricities in the ipsilesional
hemifield. We hypothesize that both the contralesional slowing down and the
ipsilesional speeding up of the response depends upon an exaggerated
gradient of attention towards the ipsilesional hemifield. To assess whether
these abnormalities concern automatic or controlled attentional processes,
in a second experiment, we manipulated the predictability of the side of
the stimulus presentation by using blocked rather than randomized stimulus
presentations. This resulted in a speeding up of responses in both
hemifields thus showing that the patients were able to focus attention to
the side of stimulus presentation voluntarily. However, there was no
modification of the contra-ipsilesional differences which, therefore, are
likely to be related to abnormal automatic processes rather than controlled
attention.
ARTICLES
The spatial distribution of visual attention in hemineglect and extinction patients
Rehabilitation Center, Policlinico Borgo Roma, Verona, Italy.
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  P. Molenberghs, C. R. Gillebert, R. Peeters, and R. Vandenberghe Convergence between Lesion-Symptom Mapping and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Spatially Selective Attention in the Intact Brain J. Neurosci., March 26, 2008; 28(13): 3359 - 3373. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 R. Ptak, A. Schnider, L. Golay, and R. Muri A non-spatial bias favouring fixated stimuli revealed in patients with spatial neglect Brain, December 1, 2007; 130(12): 3211 - 3222. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 C. Babiloni, F. Vecchio, S. Rossi, A. De Capua, S. Bartalini, M. Ulivelli, and P. M. Rossini Human Ventral Parietal Cortex Plays a Functional Role on Visuospatial Attention and Primary Consciousness. A Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Study Cereb Cortex, June 1, 2007; 17(6): 1486 - 1492. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. C. Snow and J. B. Mattingley Goal-driven selective attention in patients with right hemisphere lesions: how intact is the ipsilesional field? Brain, January 1, 2006; 129(1): 168 - 181. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
G. Thut, A. Nietzel, and A. Pascual-Leone Dorsal Posterior Parietal rTMS Affects Voluntary Orienting of Visuospatial Attention Cereb Cortex, May 1, 2005; 15(5): 628 - 638. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 A Parton, P Malhotra, and M Husain Hemispatial neglect J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry, January 1, 2004; 75(1): 13 - 21. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
B Fimm, R Zahn, M Mull, S Kemeny, F Buchwald, F Block, and M Schwarz Asymmetries of visual attention after circumscribed subcortical vascular lesions J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry, November 1, 2001; 71(5): 652 - 657. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. Oliveri, P. M. Rossini, M. M. Filippi, R. Traversa, P. Cicinelli, M. G. Palmieri, P. Pasqualetti, and C. Caltagirone Time-dependent activation of parieto-frontal networks for directing attention to tactile space: A study with paired transcranial magnetic stimulation pulses in right-brain-damaged patients with extinction Brain, September 1, 2000; 123(9): 1939 - 1947. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
G. Rees, E. Wojciulik, K. Clarke, M. Husain, C. Frith, and J. Driver Unconscious activation of visual cortex in the damaged right hemisphere of a parietal patient with extinction Brain, August 1, 2000; 123(8): 1624 - 1633. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 P. Bartolomeo and S. Chokron Left unilateral neglect or right hyperattention? Neurology, December 1, 1999; 53(9): 2023 - 2023. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|