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Gori S, Peverelli M, Bertoni S, Ruffino M, Ronconi L, Molteni F, Priftis K, Facoetti A. The engagement of temporal attention in left spatial neglect. Cortex 2024; 178:201-212. [PMID: 39024938 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2024.06.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2024] [Revised: 05/02/2024] [Accepted: 06/18/2024] [Indexed: 07/20/2024]
Abstract
Previous literature showed how left spatial neglect arises from an asymmetrical distribution of spatial attention. However, it was also suggested that left spatial neglect might be partially caused or at least worsened by non-spatial attention disorders of the right-lateralized stimulus-driven attentional fronto-parietal network. Here, we psychophysically tested the efficiency of temporal attentional engagement of foveal perception through meta-contrast (Experiment 1) and "attentional" masking (Experiment 2) tasks in patients with right-hemisphere stroke with left neglect (N+), without left neglect (N-) and matched healthy controls (C). In both experiments, N+ patients showed higher thresholds, not only than Cs, but also than N- patients. Temporal engagement was clinically impaired in all N+ patients and highly correlated with their typical inability to direct spatial attention towards stimuli on the left side. Our findings suggest that a temporal impairment of attentional engagement is a relevant deficit of left spatial neglect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simone Gori
- Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy.
| | - Milena Peverelli
- "Villa Beretta" Rehabilitation Center, Costamasnaga (LC), "Valduce" Hospital (CO), Italy
| | - Sara Bertoni
- Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy; Developmental and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, General Psychology Department, University of Padova, Italy
| | - Milena Ruffino
- Servizio di Neuropsichiatria dell'Infanzia e dell'Adolescenza, Saronno ASST Valle Olona (VA), Italy
| | - Luca Ronconi
- School of Psychology, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy; Division of Neuroscience, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | - Franco Molteni
- "Villa Beretta" Rehabilitation Center, Costamasnaga (LC), "Valduce" Hospital (CO), Italy
| | - Konstantinos Priftis
- Human Inspired Technology Research Centre, University of Padova, Italy; General Psychology Department, University of Padova, Italy
| | - Andrea Facoetti
- Developmental and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, General Psychology Department, University of Padova, Italy.
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Wang F, Nguyen QTH, Kaneshiro B, Hasak L, Wang AM, Toomarian EY, Norcia AM, McCandliss BD. Lexical and sublexical cortical tuning for print revealed by Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials (SSVEPs) in early readers. Dev Sci 2023; 26:e13352. [PMID: 36413170 PMCID: PMC10881121 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2021] [Revised: 10/27/2022] [Accepted: 11/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
There are multiple levels of processing relevant to reading that vary in their visual, sublexical, and lexical orthographic processing demands. Segregating distinct cortical sources for each of these levels has been challenging in EEG studies of early readers. To address this challenge, we applied recent advances in analyzing high-density EEG using Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials (SSVEPs) via data-driven Reliable Components Analysis (RCA) in a group of early readers spanning from kindergarten to second grade. Three controlled stimulus contrasts-familiar words versus unfamiliar pseudofonts, familiar words versus pseudowords, and pseudowords versus nonwords-were used to isolate coarse print tuning, lexical processing, and sublexical orthography-related processing, respectively. First, three overlapping yet distinct neural sources-left vOT, dorsal parietal, and primary visual cortex were revealed underlying coarse print tuning. Second, we segregated distinct cortical sources for the other two levels of processing: lexical fine tuning over occipito-temporal/parietal regions; sublexical orthographic fine tuning over left occipital regions. Finally, exploratory group analyses based on children's reading fluency suggested that coarse print tuning emerges early even in children with limited reading knowledge, while sublexical and higher-level lexical processing emerge only in children with sufficient reading knowledge. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Cognitive processes underlying coarse print tuning, sublexical, and lexical fine tuning were examined in beginning readers. Three overlapping yet distinct neural sources-left ventral occipito-temporal (vOT), left temporo-parietal, and primary visual cortex-were revealed underlying coarse print tuning. Responses to sublexical orthographic fine tuning were found over left occipital regions, while responses to higher-level linguistic fine tuning were found over occipito-temporal/parietal regions. Exploratory group analyses suggested that coarse print tuning emerges in children with limited reading knowledge, while sublexical and higher-level linguistic fine tuning effects emerge in children with sufficient reading knowledge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fang Wang
- Graduate School of Education, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | | | - Blair Kaneshiro
- Graduate School of Education, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Lindsey Hasak
- Graduate School of Education, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Angie M. Wang
- Graduate School of Education, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Elizabeth Y. Toomarian
- Graduate School of Education, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
- Synapse School, Menlo Park, California, USA
| | - Anthony M. Norcia
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
- Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Bruce D. McCandliss
- Graduate School of Education, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
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Kress S, Neudorf J, Borowsky B, Borowsky R. What's in a game: Video game visual-spatial demand location exhibits a double dissociation with reading speed. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2023; 232:103822. [PMID: 36565581 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2022.103822] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2022] [Revised: 12/20/2022] [Accepted: 12/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
This research sought to clarify the nature of the relationship between video game experience, attention, and reading. Previous studies have suggested playing action video games can improve reading ability in children with dyslexia. Other research has linked video game experience with visual-spatial attention, and visual-spatial attention with reading. We hypothesized that the visual-spatial demands of video games may drive relationships with reading through attentional processing. In this experiment we used a hybrid attention/reading task to explore the relationship between video game visual-spatial demands, reading and attention. We also developed novel visual-spatial demand measures using participants' top five played video games for an individual-specific measure of visual demands. Peripheral visual demands in video games were associated with faster reading times, while central visual demands were associated with slower reading times for both phonetic decoding and lexical reading. In addition, video game experience in terms of hours spent playing video games each week interacted with the cueing effect size in the lexical reading condition, with experienced video game players exhibiting a larger cueing effect than participants with less video game experience. These results suggest that exposure to peripheral visual spatial demands in video games may be related to both lexical and sublexical reading processes in hybrid attentional reading tasks such as ours with skilled adult readers, which has implications not only for models of how ventral and dorsal stream reading and visual-spatial attention are integrated, but also for the development of dyslexia diagnostics and remediation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaylyn Kress
- Department of Psychology & Health Studies, University of Saskatchewan, Canada.
| | - Josh Neudorf
- Department of Psychology & Health Studies, University of Saskatchewan, Canada.
| | - Braedyn Borowsky
- Department of Psychology & Health Studies, University of Saskatchewan, Canada.
| | - Ron Borowsky
- Department of Psychology & Health Studies, University of Saskatchewan, Canada.
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Franceschini S, Bertoni S, Puccio G, Gori S, Termine C, Facoetti A. Visuo-spatial attention deficit in children with reading difficulties. Sci Rep 2022; 12:13930. [PMID: 35978017 PMCID: PMC9385647 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-16646-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2022] [Accepted: 07/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Although developmental reading disorders (developmental dyslexia) have been mainly associated with auditory-phonological deficits, recent longitudinal and training studies have shown a possible causal role of visuo-attentional skills in reading acquisition. Indeed, visuo-attentional mechanisms could be involved in the orthographic processing of the letter string and the graphemic parsing that precede the grapheme-to-phoneme mapping. Here, we used a simple paper-and-pencil task composed of three labyrinths to measure visuo-spatial attention in a large sample of primary school children (n = 398). In comparison to visual search tasks requiring visual working memory, our labyrinth task mainly measures distributed and focused visuo-spatial attention, also controlling for sensorimotor learning. Compared to typical readers (n = 340), children with reading difficulties (n = 58) showed clear visuo-spatial attention impairments that appear not linked to motor coordination and procedural learning skills implicated in this paper and pencil task. Since visual attention is dysfunctional in about 40% of the children with reading difficulties, an efficient reading remediation program should integrate both auditory-phonological and visuo-attentional interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandro Franceschini
- Developmental and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia 8, 35131, Padua, Italy. .,Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy.
| | - Sara Bertoni
- Developmental and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia 8, 35131, Padua, Italy.,Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy
| | - Giovanna Puccio
- Developmental and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia 8, 35131, Padua, Italy
| | - Simone Gori
- Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy
| | - Cristiano Termine
- Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy
| | - Andrea Facoetti
- Developmental and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia 8, 35131, Padua, Italy.
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Bertoni S, Franceschini S, Puccio G, Mancarella M, Gori S, Facoetti A. Action Video Games Enhance Attentional Control and Phonological Decoding in Children with Developmental Dyslexia. Brain Sci 2021; 11:171. [PMID: 33572998 PMCID: PMC7911052 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11020171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2020] [Revised: 01/25/2021] [Accepted: 01/26/2021] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Reading acquisition is extremely difficult for about 5% of children because they are affected by a heritable neurobiological disorder called developmental dyslexia (DD). Intervention studies can be used to investigate the causal role of neurocognitive deficits in DD. Recently, it has been proposed that action video games (AVGs)-enhancing attentional control-could improve perception and working memory as well as reading skills. In a partial crossover intervention study, we investigated the effect of AVG and non-AVG training on attentional control using a conjunction visual search task in children with DD. We also measured the non-alphanumeric rapid automatized naming (RAN), phonological decoding and word reading before and after AVG and non-AVG training. After both video game training sessions no effect was found in non-alphanumeric RAN and in word reading performance. However, after only 12 h of AVG training the attentional control was improved (i.e., the set-size slopes were flatter in visual search) and phonological decoding speed was accelerated. Crucially, attentional control and phonological decoding speed were increased only in DD children whose video game score was highly efficient after the AVG training. We demonstrated that only an efficient AVG training induces a plasticity of the fronto-parietal attentional control linked to a selective phonological decoding improvement in children with DD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Bertoni
- Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Bergamo, 24129 Bergamo, Italy;
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, 35122 Padova, Italy; (S.F.); (G.P.); (M.M.); (A.F.)
| | - Sandro Franceschini
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, 35122 Padova, Italy; (S.F.); (G.P.); (M.M.); (A.F.)
| | - Giovanna Puccio
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, 35122 Padova, Italy; (S.F.); (G.P.); (M.M.); (A.F.)
| | - Martina Mancarella
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, 35122 Padova, Italy; (S.F.); (G.P.); (M.M.); (A.F.)
- Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Simone Gori
- Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Bergamo, 24129 Bergamo, Italy;
| | - Andrea Facoetti
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, 35122 Padova, Italy; (S.F.); (G.P.); (M.M.); (A.F.)
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