THE COGNITIVE NEUROPSYCHOLOGY OF ATTENTION - A FRONTAL-LOBE PERSPECTIVE

Recent research on the cognitive sequelae of focal frontal damage has significantly advanced our understanding of the role of the frontal lo bes in attentional function. Although early studies using traditional psychometric tests had suggested that attention was not grossly impair ed in patients with focal frontal lobe lesions, more recent studies ha ve demonstrated deficits in dissociable capacities such as the directi on of extrapersonal attention, selective attention, inhibition, orient ing responses, habituation, and sustained attention. Behaviourally, th ese deficits may be manifested as distractibility, neglect, and impuls ivity. There is some suggestion of localisation of attentional process es within the frontal cortex, with the right frontal lobe being partic ularly implicated in the mediation of sustained and directed attention . However, there does not yet appear to be any conclusive evidence in the focal frontal literature concerning the localisation of other atte ntional processes. Prescriptions for future research include more thor ough replications of empirical data, the use of better designed contro l procedures to isolate component cognitive processes of attention, an d the application of novel approaches and technologies such as neural network simulations and functional neuro-imaging.