Poggel Dorothe A, Kasten Erich, Müller-Oehring Eva M, Bunzenthal Ulrike, Sabel Bernhard A
Institute of Medical Psychology, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Leipziger Str. 44, 39120 Magdeburg, Germany.
Brain Res. 2006 Jun 30;1097(1):142-8. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2006.04.011. Epub 2006 Jun 14.
Visual attention is crucial for almost all processes of visual perception, particularly when perception is difficult. We were interested in the effects of cueing spatial attention in patients with cerebral lesions who face difficulties in visual perception in areas of residual vision at the border of visual field defects. In 23 patients with visual field loss due to post-geniculate brain lesions, stimulus detection performance and reaction times were mapped with high-resolution computer-based perimetry. A cueing procedure using Gestalt completion to attract attention to areas of residual vision was implemented in this test and performance compared in attended and unattended conditions. Stimulus detection and reaction times in areas of residual vision improved significantly under attended conditions. The extent of this effect depended on the size of areas of residual vision within the cued field. Unexpectedly, facilitation was also observed, though to a lesser extent, in invalid cueing conditions, suggesting an unspecific increase of alertness in unattended areas. Our findings show that top-down influences are relevant for visual field testing. Visuo-spatial attention may change patterns of neural activation and induce short-term plasticity not only in the intact visual system but also in the presence of visual field loss after brain lesions. Attentional cueing induces a co-activation of the lesioned visual system and (intact) attentional networks in the brain inducing immediate facilitation of visual perception. This effect may be relevant for designing new strategies to permanently improve vision during neuropsychological rehabilitation.
视觉注意力对于几乎所有视觉感知过程都至关重要，尤其是在感知困难时。我们感兴趣的是，在视野缺损边界的残余视觉区域存在视觉感知困难的脑损伤患者中，提示空间注意力的效果。在23例因膝状体后脑部病变导致视野缺损的患者中，使用基于计算机的高分辨率视野计绘制刺激检测性能和反应时间。在该测试中实施了一种使用格式塔完形来吸引对残余视觉区域注意力的提示程序，并比较了在有提示和无提示条件下的性能。在有提示条件下，残余视觉区域的刺激检测和反应时间显著改善。这种效果的程度取决于提示视野内残余视觉区域的大小。出乎意料的是，在无效提示条件下也观察到了促进作用，尽管程度较小，这表明在未被注意的区域警觉性有非特异性增加。我们的研究结果表明，自上而下的影响与视野测试相关。视觉空间注意力不仅可能在完整的视觉系统中改变神经激活模式并诱导短期可塑性，而且在脑损伤后存在视野缺损的情况下也会如此。注意力提示会诱导受损视觉系统和大脑中（完整的）注意力网络的共同激活，从而立即促进视觉感知。这种效果可能与设计新策略以在神经心理康复期间永久改善视力有关。
