Attention across visual fields: An experiment related to consciousness, attention and hemispatial neglect.

Abstract

This paper presents data from an experiment on visual attention. The purpose of the experiment was to test a novel experimental paradigm for research into the relationship between visual attention and awareness in hemispatial neglect patients. The experiment was performed on normal volunteers; followup experiments would be performed on clinical patients with hemispatial neglect. I provide an overview of established literature regarding the neurological disorder known as hemispatial neglect, and how the disorder can be informed by Michael Graziano’s Attention Schema Theory of consciousness. By building on previous studies conducted on the attention schema and awareness, I propose a novel task paradigm for use in visual behavioral experiments with hemispatial neglect patients. This experimental design utilizes the position-based disparity in awareness seen in neglect patients to study both the effects of awareness on attention, and the nature of the underlying mechanism disrupted in hemispatial neglect. This study explores the implementation of this model in behavioral experiments conducted on healthy human subjects, and the implications of its use in the future for the study of neglect. Through the findings of previous and current research discussed in this paper, I provide new methods and context for the further understanding of the brain’s mechanism of controlling attention and awareness.