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Usability of a theory of visual attention (TVA) for parameter-based measurement of attention II: Evidence from two patients with frontal or parietal damage

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2005

PETER BUBLAK ,
KATHRIN FINKE ,
JOSEPH KRUMMENACHER ,
RUDOLF PREGER ,
SØREN KYLLINGSBÆK ,
HERMANN J. MÜLLER  and
WERNER X. SCHNEIDER
PETER BUBLAK
Affiliation:
General and Experimental Psychology, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany
KATHRIN FINKE
Affiliation:
General and Experimental Psychology, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany
JOSEPH KRUMMENACHER
Affiliation:
General and Experimental Psychology, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany
RUDOLF PREGER
Affiliation:
Neurological Rehabilitation Center, Kipfenberg, Germany
SØREN KYLLINGSBÆK
Affiliation:
Center for Visual Cognition, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
HERMANN J. MÜLLER
Affiliation:
General and Experimental Psychology, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany
WERNER X. SCHNEIDER
Affiliation:
General and Experimental Psychology, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany
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Abstract

Based on a ‘Theory of Visual Attention’ (TVA), whole and partial report of brief letter arrays is presented as a diagnostic tool to estimate four clinically significant attentional components: perceptual processing speed, visual working memory storage capacity, efficiency of top-down control, and spatial distribution of attention. The procedure used was short enough to be applicable within a standard clinical setting. Two brain-damaged patients, selected based on lesion location and neuropsychological test profile, were compared to a control group of 22 healthy subjects. One patient with a right inferior parietal lesion showed a pattern of non-spatially and spatially lateralized attention deficits that is typically found in neglect patients. Results from the second patient supported the decisive role of superior frontal brain structures for top-down control of visual attention. This double dissociation supports the hypothesis that, even with a short version of whole and partial report, valid and meaningful results can be obtained in the neuropsychological assessment of attention deficits. The potential and constraints of TVA-based parameter estimation for the clinical application are discussed. (JINS, 2005, 11, 843–854.)

Keywords

Perceptual disordersHemispatial neglectNeuropsychologyNeuropsychological testsAnterior cerebral arteryMiddle cerebral arteryPrefrontal cortexParietal lobe
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 11 , Issue 7 , November 2005 , pp. 843 - 854
Copyright
© 2005 The International Neuropsychological Society

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