Preserved left and upper visual field advantages in older adults' orienting of attention

Standing and Walking Attention Visual Field (SWAVF) task: A new method to assess visuospatial attention during walking

Visuospatial attention during walking has been associated with pedestrian safety and fall risks. However, visuospatial attention measures during walking remained under-explored. Current studies introduced a newly-developed Standing and Walking Visual Attention Field (SWAVF) task to assess visuospatial attention during walking and examined its reliability, validity, and stability. Thirty young adults completed a traditional computerized Attention Visual Field (AVF) task while sitting, and the SWAVF task under walking and standing settings. Nine participants also performed the SWAVF task under additional distraction conditions. Results showed good split-half reliability during standing (r = 0.70) and walking (r = 0.69), moderate concurrent validity with the sitting AVF task (r = 0.42), moderate convergent validity between the standing and walking settings (r = 0.69), good construct validity, and moderate rank-order stability (r = 0.53). Overall, the SWAVF task showed good psychometric properties. Potential applications to the evaluation of prosthetic and other exoskeleton devices, smart glasses, and ground-level traffic lights or signs were discussed.

Asymmetrical Pseudo-Extinction Phenomenon in the Illusory Line Motion

Illusory Line Motion (i.e., a static line, presented after a lateral cue, is perceived as movement in the opposite direction to the cue) has been used to study a phenomenon of perceptual asymmetry. We have demonstrated the presence of an illusion of leftward movement, even in the presence of bilateral symmetrical cues. We have classified this phenomenon as one of pseudo-extinction. The paradigm of the four experiments performed was always the same: a white line, briefly presented alone or preceded by one or two lateral cues (150 ms), was judged by a group of young participants to be moving either to one side or the other. The asymmetrical effect in the bilateral cue condition was observed with horizontal lines (Experiment 1 and 4), and not with vertical or oblique (Experiment 2 and 3). These results suggest that the effect is linked to the asymmetry of the horizontal spatial planum and the mechanisms of spatial attention. Experiment 4 verified whether the Illusory Line Motion involves the collicular pathway by using blue stimuli for the cues, which activate less the Superior Colliculus (SC), with negative results. We interpreted the asymmetrical pseudo-extinction phenomenon in terms of a right-space exogenous attention advantage.

Laterality of Attentional Networks in Patients With Cerebral Small Vessel Disease

Introduction: Problems with attention are common in patients with cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD). The normal human brain exhibits functional and structural asymmetry. However, it is unknown whether there is lateralization of attention in patients with CSVD.

Objective: This study aims to investigate attention separately in both cerebral hemispheres in patients with CSVD using the computer-based Lateralized Attention Network Test—Revised (LANT-R).

Methods: The total number of subjects included was 58, which includes the CSVD (N = 35) and healthy control (HC, N = 23) groups. All subjects completed the LANT-R paradigm and neuropsychological background tests.

Results: The results indicate that there is an left hemisphere (LH) lateralization in orienting network efficiency in the HC group. However, this lateralization was not apparent in the CSVD group. Furthermore, the difference between groups was significant (interaction P = 0.02). In addition, the scores of subjects in the CSVD group are lower in several cognitive domains, including attention function, memory function, information processing speed, and executive function, compared with the controls.

Conclusion: Patients with CSVD change in the lateralization of attention compared with the normal elderly. The decrease in attention in patients with CSVD might be caused by the reduced ability of selecting useful information in the LH.