Pseudoneglect for mental alphabet lines is affected by prismatic adaptation

While patients with right parietal damage and spatial neglect bisect lines to the right, the general population bisects lines to the left; a phenomenon known as pseudoneglect. The leftward bias also occurs for mental representations, such as number and alphabet lines. Prismatic adaptation can have a...

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Main Authors: Nicholls, M., Kamer, A., Loftus, Andrea
Format: Journal Article
Published: Springer-Verlag 2008
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/21414
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author Nicholls, M.
Kamer, A.
Loftus, Andrea
author_facet Nicholls, M.
Kamer, A.
Loftus, Andrea
author_sort Nicholls, M.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description While patients with right parietal damage and spatial neglect bisect lines to the right, the general population bisects lines to the left; a phenomenon known as pseudoneglect. The leftward bias also occurs for mental representations, such as number and alphabet lines. Prismatic adaptation can have a dramatic eVect on attentional bias and corrects neglect and pseudoneglect for physical and mental number lines. This study examined whether prismatic adaptation can correct leftward bisection biasesfor alphabet lines, which may have a diVerent spatial arrangement compared to number lines. In pre-adaptation testing, students (n = 42) were shown letter trigrams (e.g. C H P) and judged whether the alphabetical distance before or after the inner-letter was larger. Participants were then split into three groups and were adapted to left-shifting, control or right-shifting prims. After adaptation, the mental alphabet bisection task was re-administered. The length of left side of the alphabet lines was overestimated by all three groups in the pre-adaptation phase. Right-shifting prisms and control spectacles had no eVect on the leftward bias whereas exposure to left-shifting prisms corrected the bias. The results replicate an eVect observed for mental number lines and demonstrate that low-level sensory-motor shifts can correct attentional biases associated with high-level representations, such as letters.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-214142017-09-13T13:52:23Z Pseudoneglect for mental alphabet lines is affected by prismatic adaptation Nicholls, M. Kamer, A. Loftus, Andrea Line bisection Neglect Prisms Attention While patients with right parietal damage and spatial neglect bisect lines to the right, the general population bisects lines to the left; a phenomenon known as pseudoneglect. The leftward bias also occurs for mental representations, such as number and alphabet lines. Prismatic adaptation can have a dramatic eVect on attentional bias and corrects neglect and pseudoneglect for physical and mental number lines. This study examined whether prismatic adaptation can correct leftward bisection biasesfor alphabet lines, which may have a diVerent spatial arrangement compared to number lines. In pre-adaptation testing, students (n = 42) were shown letter trigrams (e.g. C H P) and judged whether the alphabetical distance before or after the inner-letter was larger. Participants were then split into three groups and were adapted to left-shifting, control or right-shifting prims. After adaptation, the mental alphabet bisection task was re-administered. The length of left side of the alphabet lines was overestimated by all three groups in the pre-adaptation phase. Right-shifting prisms and control spectacles had no eVect on the leftward bias whereas exposure to left-shifting prisms corrected the bias. The results replicate an eVect observed for mental number lines and demonstrate that low-level sensory-motor shifts can correct attentional biases associated with high-level representations, such as letters. 2008 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/21414 10.1007/s00221-008-1502-x Springer-Verlag restricted
spellingShingle Line bisection
Neglect
Prisms
Attention
Nicholls, M.
Kamer, A.
Loftus, Andrea
Pseudoneglect for mental alphabet lines is affected by prismatic adaptation
title Pseudoneglect for mental alphabet lines is affected by prismatic adaptation
title_full Pseudoneglect for mental alphabet lines is affected by prismatic adaptation
title_fullStr Pseudoneglect for mental alphabet lines is affected by prismatic adaptation
title_full_unstemmed Pseudoneglect for mental alphabet lines is affected by prismatic adaptation
title_short Pseudoneglect for mental alphabet lines is affected by prismatic adaptation
title_sort pseudoneglect for mental alphabet lines is affected by prismatic adaptation
topic Line bisection
Neglect
Prisms
Attention
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/21414