Attentional grasp in parkinson disease

Valeria Drago, Paul S. Foster, Frank M. Skidmore, Benzi Kluger, Daniel Antoniello, Kenneth M. Heilman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Patients with Parkinson disease (PD) have deficits in the neurotransmitter systems important for the normal allocation of attention. We sought to examine how the presence of PD influences the spatial allocation of reactive (bottom-up) and volitional (top-down) attention. METHODS: To assess the spatial allocation of attention, we used the line bisection task. When assessing "bottom-up" attention, lateral blinking lights were or were not present during the time the PD and normal subjects were attempting to perform line bisections. In the top-down condition, these subjects were asked to name the color of the laterally presented light before bisecting lines. RESULTS: In the bottom-up condition, when compared with control subjects, the participants with PD were not abnormally distracted, but in the top-down condition, imperative stimuli on the right side of the line seemed to influence the PD subjects' allocation of attention. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that when voluntarily allocating attention rightward, PD patients have difficulty disengaging and/or reallocating their attention. This disengagement deficit might be related to the frontal-executive dysfunction associated with PD.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)138-142
Number of pages5
JournalCognitive and Behavioral Neurology
Volume21
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2008
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Bottom-up attention
  • Frontal lobe
  • Line bisection
  • Parkinson disease
  • Spatial attention
  • Top-down attention

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology
  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

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