Abstract
IntroductionEye movements and spatial attention are closely related, and eye‐tracking can provide valuable information in research on visual attention. We investigated the pathology of overt attention in right hemisphere (RH) stroke patients differing in their severity of neglect symptoms by using eye‐tracking during a dynamic attention task.MethodsEye movements were recorded in 26 RH stroke patients (13 with and 13 without unilateral spatial neglect, and a matched group of 26 healthy controls during a Multiple Object Tracking task. We assessed the frequency and spatial distributions of fixations, as well as frequencies of eye movements to the left and to the right side of visual space so as to investigate individuals’ efficiency of visual processing, distribution of attentional processing resources, and oculomotoric orienting mechanisms.ResultsBoth patient groups showed increased fixation frequencies compared to controls. A spatial bias was found in neglect patients’ fixation distribution, depending on neglect severity (indexed by scores on the Behavioral Inattention Test). Patients with more severe neglect had more fixations within the right field, while patients with less severe neglect had more fixations within their left field. Eye movement frequencies were dependent on direction in the neglect patient group, as they made more eye movements toward the right than toward the left.ConclusionThe patient groups’ higher fixation rates suggest that patients are generally less efficient in visual processing. The spatial bias in fixation distribution, dependent on neglect severity, suggested that patients with less severe neglect were able to use compensational mechanisms in their contralesional space. The observed relation between eye movement rates and directions observed in neglect patients provides a measure of the degree of difficulty these patients may encounter during dynamic situations in daily life and supports the idea that directional oculomotor hypokinesia may be a relevant component in this syndrome.
Highlights
Eye movements and spatial attention are closely related, and eye‐tracking can provide valuable information in research on visual attention
A dynamic divided‐attention task (MOT) combined with recordings of eye movements allow for a simultaneous investigation of sev‐ eral relevant variables for understanding the neglect syndrome
In the present sample of right hemisphere (RH) patients, performance was dramatically reduced in patients diagnosed with severe spatial attention dys‐ function, showing in essence that neglect may be associated with a remarkable deficit in dividing attention into even a few attentional foci
Summary
Eye movements and spatial attention are closely related, and eye‐tracking can provide valuable information in research on visual attention. We investigated the pathology of overt attention in right hemisphere (RH) stroke patients differing in their severity of neglect symptoms by using eye‐tracking during a dynamic attention task. We assessed the frequency and spatial distributions of fixations, as well as frequencies of eye movements to the left and to the right side of visual space so as to investigate individuals’ efficiency of visual processing, distri‐ bution of attentional processing resources, and oculomotoric orienting mechanisms. Unilateral spatial neglect is a neurological syndrome characterized by attention difficulties that affect the person’s ability to perceive or respond to information in the space contralateral to the brain injury (Heilman & Valenstein, 1979; Mesulam, 1981, 1999; Verdon, Schwartz, Lovblad, Hauert, & Vuilleumier, 2010). Eye‐tracking measures (e.g., distri‐ bution and properties of fixations and eye movements) would seem fundamental in the research on visual attention, both with normal participants and in its pathological manifestations in neurological patients
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