Affiliations: Neuropsychology Unit, Neurology Clinic, Friedrich
Schiller University, Jena, Germany | General and Experimental Psychology, Ludwig Maximilian
University, Munich, Germany | Neuro-cognitive Psychology, Ludwig Maximilian
University, Munich, Germany
Note: [] Corresponding author: Peter Bublak, Neuropsychology Unit,
Neurology Clinic, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Erlanger Allee 101,
D-07747 Jena, Germany. Tel.: +49 3641 9323475; Fax: +49 3641 9323472; E-mail:
peter.bublak@med.uni-jena.de
Abstract: Purpose: The aim was to present evidence that, similarly as in
neglect, a combined pattern of spatial and non-spatial deficits of visual
attention can also be typically observed in patients suffering from
neurodegenerative disorders. Method: Whole and partial report of brief letter arrays, based on
Bundesen's 'theory of visual attention' (TVA), was applied in patients
suffering from Huntington's disease (HD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or
Alzheimer's disease (AD). TVA-based parameter estimates were derived reflecting
(a) perceptual processing speed and visual working memory storage capacity as
non-spatial aspects of visual attention (determined by whole report
performance), and (b) spatial attentional weighting (determined by partial
report performance). Results: Processing speed was severely slowed in HD, and also
reduced, although to a lesser degree, in MCI and AD patients. In HD and AD
patients, but not in MCI patients, a strong leftward bias of spatial attention
was observed. Conclusion: Neglect and neurodegenerative diseases both involve a
similar constellation of non-spatial and spatial deficits of visual attention.
Therefore, by using TVA-based measurement, results from both fields of research
may fruitfully inform each other in future studies, thus improving our
understanding of the interaction of spatial and non-spatial attention deficits
and its behavioral consequences.
