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Visuospatial attention in senile dementia of the Alzheimer's type (SDAT)
A. Quayle et al. / Biological Psychology, 37 (1993) 43-71
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MMN amplitude in both bipolar patients and controls. We conclude that the deficit in pre-attentive auditory information processing indexed by MMN attenuation in schizophrenia is not a function of current neuroleptic treatment, and may indicate a trait abnormality of neurodevelopmental origin.
Visuospatial attention in senile dementia of the Alzheimer’s type (SDAT) M.J. Wright,
G.M. Geffen
and L.B. Geffen
Cognitiue Psychophysiology Laboratory, Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry, Unirvrsity of Queensland, QLD 4072, Australia
Covert orientation of attention was studied in a group of patients with mild dementia (SDAT) and compared with a control group matched for age, sex, IQ and education. Subjects responded (button press with right index finger) to target light onset in their left or right peripheral field while fixating on a centrally located cue which is either directional (valid 80% and invalid 20% probability) or neutral (non-directional). Valid cuing produces a faster response time (benefit) than neutral cuing whilst invalid cuing produces a slower response time (cost). Subjects with SDAT made more response errors and were slower than controls. The control subjects showed the expected magnitude of cost and benefit associated with the invalid and valid cuing respectively. In contrast, subjects with SDAT showed reduced cost and increased benefit. Since the SDAT subjects had the highest miss rate to targets following neutral cues, they had difficulty dividing attention when expecting target onset from either side of space. Electrophysiological changes included a marked attenuation in CNV amplitude and a significant increase in P3 latency following target stimuli for the SDAT group compared with controls. The electrophysiological changes during the cue-target interval were predictive of the group differences in the behavioural measures. 3. Abstracts
of posters
Frontal cognitive ERP components and obsessive-compulsive disorder B. Bonevski,
M. Hunter
and W.R. Fulham
Department of Psychology, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia
Recent research has implicated frontal lobe dysfunction in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), particularly in the form of deficits in the ability to
63
MMN amplitude in both bipolar patients and controls. We conclude that the deficit in pre-attentive auditory information processing indexed by MMN attenuation in schizophrenia is not a function of current neuroleptic treatment, and may indicate a trait abnormality of neurodevelopmental origin.
Visuospatial attention in senile dementia of the Alzheimer’s type (SDAT) M.J. Wright,
G.M. Geffen
and L.B. Geffen
Cognitiue Psychophysiology Laboratory, Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry, Unirvrsity of Queensland, QLD 4072, Australia
Covert orientation of attention was studied in a group of patients with mild dementia (SDAT) and compared with a control group matched for age, sex, IQ and education. Subjects responded (button press with right index finger) to target light onset in their left or right peripheral field while fixating on a centrally located cue which is either directional (valid 80% and invalid 20% probability) or neutral (non-directional). Valid cuing produces a faster response time (benefit) than neutral cuing whilst invalid cuing produces a slower response time (cost). Subjects with SDAT made more response errors and were slower than controls. The control subjects showed the expected magnitude of cost and benefit associated with the invalid and valid cuing respectively. In contrast, subjects with SDAT showed reduced cost and increased benefit. Since the SDAT subjects had the highest miss rate to targets following neutral cues, they had difficulty dividing attention when expecting target onset from either side of space. Electrophysiological changes included a marked attenuation in CNV amplitude and a significant increase in P3 latency following target stimuli for the SDAT group compared with controls. The electrophysiological changes during the cue-target interval were predictive of the group differences in the behavioural measures. 3. Abstracts
of posters
Frontal cognitive ERP components and obsessive-compulsive disorder B. Bonevski,
M. Hunter
and W.R. Fulham
Department of Psychology, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia
Recent research has implicated frontal lobe dysfunction in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), particularly in the form of deficits in the ability to