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The Influence of Focused and Sustained Spatial Attention on the Allocation of Spatial Attention

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2018

Damon G. Lamb ,
Kristi T. Balavage ,
John B. Williamson ,
Lauren A. Knight  and
Kenneth M. Heilman
Damon G. Lamb
Affiliation:
Brain Rehabilitation Research Center, Malcom Randall VA Medical Center, Gainesville, FL Center for Cognitive Aging and Memory – Clinical Translational Research Program, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL Center for Neuropsychological Studies, Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Kristi T. Balavage
Affiliation:
College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
John B. Williamson
Affiliation:
Brain Rehabilitation Research Center, Malcom Randall VA Medical Center, Gainesville, FL Center for Cognitive Aging and Memory – Clinical Translational Research Program, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL Center for Neuropsychological Studies, Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Lauren A. Knight
Affiliation:
College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Kenneth M. Heilman*
Affiliation:
Brain Rehabilitation Research Center, Malcom Randall VA Medical Center, Gainesville, FL Center for Cognitive Aging and Memory – Clinical Translational Research Program, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL Center for Neuropsychological Studies, Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to: Kenneth M. Heilman, Department of Neurology, University of Florida College of Medicine HSC PO Box 100236 Gainesville, FL 32610-0236. E-mail: heilman@neurology.ufl.edu
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Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of directed and sustained attention on the allocation of visuospatial attention. Healthy people often have left lateral and upward vertical spatial attentional biases. However, it is not known whether there will be an increase in bias toward the attended portion of the stimulus when volitional spatial attention is allocated to a portion of a stimulus, whether there are asymmetrical spatial alterations of these biases, and how sustained attention influences these biases. Methods: We assessed spatial bias in 36 healthy, right-handed participants using a variant of horizontal and vertical line bisections. Participants were asked to focus on one or the other end of vertical or horizontal lines or entire vertical or horizontal lines, and then to bisect the line either immediately or after a 20 second delay. Results: We found a significant main effect of attentional focus and an interaction between attentional focus and prolonged viewing with delayed bisection. Focusing on a certain portion of the line resulting in a significant deviation toward the attended portion and prolonged viewing of the line prior to bisection significantly enhanced the degree of deviation toward the attended portion. Conclusions: The enhanced bias with directed and sustained attention may be useful modifications of the line bisection test, particularly in clinical populations. Thus, future studies should determine whether prolonged viewing with delayed bisection and spatially focused attention reveals attentional biases in patients with hemispheric lesions who perform normally on the traditional line bisection test. (JINS, 2019, 25, 65–71)

Keywords

AttentionAttentional biasSpatial processingSensory neglectHabituationPseudoneglect
Type
Regular Research
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 25 , Issue 1 , January 2019 , pp. 65 - 71
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2018 

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