Increased attentional blink after focal cerebral lesions

Citation
M. Rizzo et al., Increased attentional blink after focal cerebral lesions, NEUROLOGY, 57(5), 2001, pp. 795-800
Citations number
39
Language
INGLESE
art.tipo
Article
Categorie Soggetti
Neurology,"Neurosciences & Behavoir
Journal title
NEUROLOGY
ISSN journal
0028-3878 → ACNP
Volume
57
Issue
5
Year of publication
2001
Pages
795 - 800
Database
ISI
SICI code
0028-3878(20010911)57:5<795:IABAFC>2.0.ZU;2-A
Abstract
Background: Once a person identifies a visual object, the ability to detect a second object is impaired for the next few hundred milliseconds. This at tentional blink is reported to increase in subjects with neglect due to acu te right hemisphere lesions. Method: To examine neural substrates of the at tentional blink, the authors examined the performance of 13 subjects with c hronic focal brain lesions visualized by MRI and nine control subjects with out neurologic impairments on a rapid serial visual presentation task that used letters as targets. Results: Attentional blink length in the lesion gr oup was more than twice that of controls (p < 0.05). The magnitude of the a ttentional blink deficit was greatest when the second target appeared 200 m s after the first target, recovering close to baseline by 1,200 ms. Abnorma l attentional blink occurred (even in the absence of neglect) with lesions in the occipitotemporal areas (associated with "object" vision) and the pre frontal cortices (thought to mediate visual working memory). Conclusions: A ttentional blink length and attentional blink magnitude measure different c omponents of the attentional blink process. Abnormal attentional blink can occur with different chronic focal brain lesions in a network of structures for vision and attention, and it has no special status in hemispatial negl ect. Abnormal attentional blink may help explain difficulties on rapid, vis ually demanding cognitive tasks such as reading and automobile driving and may explain performance deficits in brain damaged patients with nonspatial disorders of visual processing.