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Vertical pseudoneglect: Sensory-attentional versus action-intentional.
Benjamin A Chapin1,2, K Pisanuwongrak1,2,3,4, John B Williamson5,6,7
1Division of Behavioral Neurology and Neuropsychiatry, Department of Neurology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology
|July 12, 2022
Summary
Healthy individuals show an upward bias in vertical-line bisection, known as altitudinal pseudoneglect. This study found that while action direction influences this bias, allocentric attention plays a primary role, with visual attention potentially following motor action.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive psychology
- Neuroscience
- Human perception
Background:
- Healthy individuals exhibit an upward bias on the vertical-line bisection test, termed altitudinal pseudoneglect.
- This bias is hypothesized to stem from either sensory-attentional processes or action-intentional factors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the origins of altitudinal pseudoneglect by testing the action-intention hypothesis.
- To determine if the direction of motor action influences the upward bias in vertical-line bisection.
Main Methods:
- Twenty-four healthy, right-handed adults participated in a vertical-line bisection task.
- An apparatus distinguished between sensory-attention and action-intention effects by manipulating hand movement direction (upward/downward) and marker movement congruence (congruent/incongruent) relative to hand movement.
Main Results:
- An upward deviation from the midline was observed across all conditions.
- Bisection responses were higher in the incongruent condition compared to the congruent condition.
- Upward hand movements resulted in higher bisection estimates than downward movements, with no significant interaction between factors.
Conclusions:
- Vertical pseudoneglect is predominantly driven by allocentric attention rather than action-intention.
- Action-perceptual spatial incongruence exacerbates the upward bias, possibly due to increased attentional demands.
- Findings suggest that visual attention may follow the direction of motor action, a factor to consider in future research.
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