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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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Zhou H, Jiang M. The effect of attention shifting on Chinese children's word reading in primary school. PSICOLOGIA-REFLEXAO E CRITICA 2024; 37:7. [PMID: 38411796 PMCID: PMC10899120 DOI: 10.1186/s41155-024-00290-6] [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: 09/07/2023] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 02/28/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND This study explored the effects of attention shifting on Chinese children's word reading. OBJECTIVE The sample consisted of 87 fourth-grade children from Shaoxing City, China. METHODS The students completed measures of the attention shifting task, reading accuracy test, reading fluency test, and rapid automatized naming test. RESULTS The results showed that reading fluency was significantly correlated with attention shifting scores, specifically with tag1 and tag6 (ps < 0.05). The reading accuracy score was also significantly correlated with tag6 (p < 0.05). According to the regression analysis of attention shifting on word reading, even when controlling for rapid automatic naming, attention shifting significantly affected word reading fluency at approximately 600 ms (p = .011). Attention shifting did not affect children's word reading accuracy. SHORT CONCLUSION These findings suggest that attention shifting is significantly associated with children's word reading. Educators should focus on developing children's attention shifting to improve their word reading ability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hui Zhou
- Center for Brain, Mind and Education, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing City, People's Republic of China.
- Department of Psychology, School of Teacher Education, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing City, People's Republic of China.
| | - Meiling Jiang
- School of Teacher Education, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing City, People's Republic of China
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Cirino PT, Barnes MA, Roberts G, Miciak J, Gioia A. Visual attention and reading: A test of their relation across paradigms. J Exp Child Psychol 2022; 214:105289. [PMID: 34653633 PMCID: PMC8608740 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2021.105289] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2020] [Revised: 07/29/2021] [Accepted: 08/18/2021] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Relations of visual attention to reading have long been hypothesized; however, findings in this literature are quite mixed. These relations have been investigated using several different visual attention paradigms and with variable controls for other competing reading-related processes. We extended current knowledge by evaluating four of the key visual attention paradigms used in this research-visual attention span, attention blink, visual search, and visuospatial attention-in a single study. We tested the relations of these to reading in 90 middle schoolers at high risk for reading difficulties while considering their effect in the context of known language predictors. Performance on visual-spatial, visual search, and attentional blink paradigms showed weak nonsignificant relations to reading. Visual attention span tasks showed robust relations to reading even when controlling for language, but only when stimuli were alphanumeric. Although further exploration of visual attention in relation to reading may be warranted, the robustness of this relationship appears to be questionable, particularly beyond methodological factors associated with the measurement of visual attention. Findings extend and refine our understanding of the contribution of attention to reading skill and raise questions about the mechanism by which visual attention is purported to affect reading.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul T Cirino
- Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, USA.
| | - Marcia A Barnes
- Department of Special Education, Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA
| | - Greg Roberts
- Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk, College of Education, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
| | - Jeremy Miciak
- Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, USA
| | - Anthony Gioia
- Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, USA
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Langer N, Benjamin C, Becker BLC, Gaab N. Comorbidity of reading disabilities and ADHD: Structural and functional brain characteristics. Hum Brain Mapp 2019; 40:2677-2698. [PMID: 30784139 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.24552] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2018] [Revised: 01/16/2019] [Accepted: 02/06/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Reading disabilities (RD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are two of the most common developmental disorders. RD and ADHD frequently co-occur, which raises questions about how the disorders interact and to what extent they can be differentiated. To date, the underlying neural mechanisms leading to RD-ADHD comorbidity (COM) are not understood. In this study, structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) were combined with comprehensive behavioral testing in order to characterize the behavior, brain structure, and neural correlates of executive function, phonological processing and reading fluency in 60 children with clinical diagnoses of RD, ADHD, or COM, and controls. Whole-brain analyses of variance were performed on cortical thickness values and on the data of the three fMRI tasks to investigate overall group differences. To validate these findings, a region of interest analysis was performed in regions that have previously been shown to exhibit group differences in children with RD or ADHD using the same paradigms. The neuroimaging results demonstrated structural and functional atypicalities for COM in regions that are frequently associated with deficits in children with isolated ADHD or RD. A combination of shared and distinctive brain alterations between the clinical groups was identified, supporting the multiple deficit model for ADHD, RD, and its comorbidity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas Langer
- Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience, Division of Developmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.,Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.,Methods of Plasticity Research, Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,University Research Priority Program (URPP) Dynamics of Healthy Aging, Zurich, Switzerland.,Neuroscience Center Zurich (ZNZ), Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Christopher Benjamin
- Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience, Division of Developmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.,Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
| | - Bryce L C Becker
- Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience, Division of Developmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.,University of California, Berkeley, California
| | - Nadine Gaab
- Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience, Division of Developmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.,Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
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