Asymmetries in the covert orienting of visual spatial attention to spatial and non-spatial cues in alzheimer's disease

Abstract

Summary: The ability to direct covert visual spatial attention to the left (LVF0 and right visual field (RVF) was examined in 15 patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease and 15 age- and education-matched controls using the covert orienting of visual spatial attention task (COVAT) modified to include both spatial and non-spatial cues. Subjects responded with a button press when they detected a target at a location 8° to either the left or right of fixation. On 70% of trials a spatial cue was flashed at the target location before the target appeared.On 15% of trials the sparial cue was flashed at the target lacation contralateral to where it would appear and on the remaining 15% of t..