What kind of visual spatial attention is impaired in neglect?
Natale E; Posteraro L; Prior M; Marzi CA Department of Neurological and Visual Sciences, Section of Human Physiology, University of Verona, Verona, Italy. elena.natale@medizin.uni-leipzig.de The distribution of spatial attention across the horizontal meridian of the visual field, as assessed by a simple reaction time (RT) paradigm, is dramatically abnormal in neglect patients. In the contralesional hemifield, RT increases sharply from centre to periphery, while in the ipsilesional hemifield, it decreases paradoxically from centre to mid-periphery. In the present study, we firstly asked whether this abnormal distribution of spatial attention is still present when patients know in advance the location of the impending stimulus, and second whether and to which extent it may be influenced by the concomitant presence of hemianopia. In Experiment 1, the stimuli were presented either predictably (blocks of same-point presentations) or unpredictably (blocks of randomised presentations) to one
