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Visual search in migraine and visual discomfort groups.
1School of Applied Psychology, Gold Coast Campus, Griffith University, PMB 50 Gold Coast Mail Centre, Gold Coast 9726, Australia. e.conlon@mailbox.gu.edu.au
Vision Research
|November 13, 2001
Summary
Migraine patients did not show a processing speed advantage. However, individuals with high visual discomfort responded more slowly, suggesting attention deficits, not sensory sensitivity, impact processing speed.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Ophthalmology
- Neurology
Background:
- Migraine is associated with sensory hypersensitivity.
- Previous research suggested a processing speed advantage in migraine patients.
- The role of sensory sensitivity in attention and processing speed remains unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate automatic and conscious attention in migraine patients.
- To test if heightened sensory sensitivity explains processing speed differences.
- To examine the relationship between visual discomfort and attention.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments were conducted: one automatic attention task and one conscious visual attention task.
- Participants included migraine patients and visual discomfort groups (high and low).
- Processing speed was measured using reaction times in various attention tasks.
Main Results:
- No processing speed advantage was found for migraine groups in either experiment.
- The high visual discomfort group responded significantly slower than the low visual discomfort group.
- Sustained attention appeared disordered in the high visual discomfort group.
Conclusions:
- Heightened sensory sensitivity does not explain processing speed advantages in migraine.
- Processing speed disadvantages in high visual discomfort groups may be linked to attention deficits.
- Disordered sustained attention is implicated in the high visual discomfort group.