Systematic analysis of deficits in visual attention

A variety of impairments in visual attention can follow damage to the brain . The authors develop systematic methods far analyzing such impairments in terms of C. Bundesen's (1990) Theory of Visual Attention and apply these in a group of 9 patients with parietal lobe lesions and variable spatial negl ect. In whole report, patients report letters from brief, vertical arrays i n left or right Visual field, The results show substantial,largely bilatera l impairments in processing capacity, implying a major nonlateralized aspec t to neglect. In partial report, arrays contain I or 2 letters in red and/o r green. The Cask is to report only those letters in a specified target col or. In addition to the expected bias against left-sided letters, patients s how striking, bilateral preservation of top-down control, or attentional pr iority for targets. The results show how differentiation of attentional imp airments can be informed by a theory of normal function.