[Development of an apparatus for measuring attention in patients with cerebral damage and functional disorders]

58 patients with various underlying neurological diseases, who had an impairment of attention, were examined. 12 patients without clinically evident disorders of attention were examined as a control group. The aim of the study was the development of a standardized procedure for the assessment of impaired attention. An additive, 4 step scale of the "susceptibility to stimulation" (Guttman scale) was constructed out of several, heterogeneous stimuli. In addition, an additive 4 step scale of "reactivity" was constructed out of a catalogue of defined reactions. The two scales permitted the assessment of reactivity and susceptibility to stimulation, the degree of which could be demonstrated as being proportional to one another. The transformation of susceptibility to stimulation into reactivity is thought to be performed by an internal system which is attributed to attention.