Associative and operant learning in unilateral visual neglect

• Main Author: Stephens, Robert
• Published: University of Birmingham 2007
• Subjects: 150.724
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.485991

Visual neglect of stimuli on the left side of space typically occurs following damage to the right parietal lobe following cardiovascular accident or 'stroke' and is generally understood to arise from an attentional bias towards one side ofspace. It is proposed that the more automatic mechanisms of normal visual attention, those responsive to reward/threat are typically spared in this syndrome and may be utilised to modulate visual search behaviour. By applying a behavioural shaping procedure to a visual search task, it was found that the search behaviour of two out ofthree participants with chronic visual neglect did indeed shift to the left during treatment sessions. The treatment effect was limited to the experimental task hence the procedure used cannot be recommended for clinical use. However, finding that the approach was effective in principle, contributes to this new line ofenquiry. Clinical application as discussed.