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Triangular backgrounds shift line bisection performance in hemispatial neglect: The critical point

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2002

Michael Esterman
Affiliation:
Geriatric Neuropsychology Laboratory, Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center (GRECC), VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts
Regina Mcglinchey-Berroth*
Affiliation:
Geriatric Neuropsychology Laboratory, Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center (GRECC), VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
Michael P. Alexander
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, and Memory Disorders Research Center, Boston University Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
William Milberg
Affiliation:
Geriatric Neuropsychology Laboratory, Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center (GRECC), VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
*
Regina McGlinchey-Berroth, Ph.D., GRECC (JP-182), VA Boston Healthcare System, 150 South Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02130. E-mail: rmcglin@bu.edu

Abstract

Isosceles triangular backgrounds influence line bisection performance in normal control participants and patients with hemispatial neglect. When the triangles are oriented asymmetrically with the vertex in 1 visual field, and the base in the other, the perceived midpoint of horizontal lines within the triangle is shifted towards the base, and away from the vertex. The current study examines this illusion further by systematically varying the extent of the triangle presented. With only fragments of the triangle in the background of the line, the vertex is the critical component driving the illusory shift in perceived midpoint. Patients with neglect and controls are equally sensitive to the illusion. Similar geometric illusions that are also intact in neglect, along with these results, suggest that preattentive, implicit visual processing is preserved in neglect and drives these illusions.

Type
Brief Communication
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2002

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