Attentional blink in patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder / 中国心理卫生杂志

This paper introduces the concept,the research paradigms and the related theory of the attentional blink,and reviews the relevant researches about the attentional blink of the children and adults with ADHD in the last 10 years.Compared to normal subjects,children and adults with ADHD did show more severe AB effect,and adults with ADHD showed more eye movement behavior.In future studies,standardized RSVP paradigm should be set up to provide convenience for the comparison of results of studies,and find out what kind of processing restrictions will affect the characteristics of different age ADHD groups in the time dimension of attention.In addition,ADHD and inhibitory control related closely,consideration should be given to the combination of inhibitory control paradigm and AB paradigm.

Domitest-S: A Novel Dichoptic Technique to Assess Ocular Sensory Dominance in Children: A Population Study.

Aims: To assess sensory ocular dominance of children by means of a novel psychophysical technique (Domitest-S). Study Design: population study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Ophthalmology, The Gradenigo Hospital, Turin, between June 2012 and June 2013. Methodology: Thirty sequences of stimuli (15 for the left eye and 15 for the right eye) were administered in dichoptic conditions to 152 pupils (mean age: 9 ± .8 years). The task was to detect the target (a checkerboard-like pattern arranged so as to form an “X”) embedded in a series of null stimuli (checkerboard-like patterns randomly arranged). Left and right proportion correct responses were computed and an index of dominance laterality, the Balance Value (BV), expressed as the right minus left proportion correct responses was introduced. A second index based on the total amount of percent correct responses, the Interocular Inhibitory Index (III) was computed to provide a measure of reciprocal binocular suppression. Results: The frequency distribution of sensory dominance was not normal, but skewed on the left (KS=.17, P<.001). The median was .20 (range .00-.80) with 77% of the subjects showing a BV between .00 and .27. A substantial equivalence was found between the proportion of right and left dominants (46%). Balance values ranging from – .20 to +.27 accounted for 79% of the variance. The distribution of the reciprocal interocular suppression measured as III was bimodal, showing two peaks, one on the right (lower inter-inhibitory effect) and the other on the left (stronger inter-inhibitory effect). Test-retest reliability was acceptable (correlation between the left and right correct responses at first and second examination: Spearman r= .54, P< .001). The duration of the examination was about 5 minutes. Conclusion: Domitest-S proves to be a fast and reliable technique to assess sensory dominance in children within the clinical setting.

A Preliminary Study of Attentional Blink of Rapid Serial Visual Presentation in Burn Patients with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

OBJECTIVES: Trauma patients have attentional bias which enforces traumatic memories and causes cognitive errors. Understanding of such selective attention may explain many aspects of the posttraumatic stress disorder(PTSD) symptoms. METHODS: We used the rapid serial visual presentation(RSVP) method to verify attentional blink in burn patients with PTSD. International affective picture system(IAPS) was used as stimuli and distracters. In the 'neutral test', patients have been presented series of pictures with human face picture as target stimuli. Each picture had 100ms interval. However the distance between target facial pictures was randomized and recognition of second facial picture accuracy was measured. In the 'stress test', the first target was stress picture which arouses patient emotions instead of the facial picture. Neutral and Stress tests were done with seven PTSD patients and 20 controls. In '85ms test' the interval was reduced to 85ms. The accuracy of recognition of second target facial picture was rated in all three tests. Eighty-five ms study was done with eighteen PTSD patients. RESULTS: Attentional blinks were observed in 100-400ms of RSVP. PTSD patients showed increased recognition rate in the'stress test' compared with the 'neutral test'. When presentation interval was decreased to 85 ms, PTSD patient showed decrease of attentional blink effect when target facial picture interval was 170ms. CONCLUSION: We found attentional blink effect could be affected by stress stimulus in burn patients. And attentional blink may be affected by stimulus interval and the character of stimulus. There may be some other specific mechanism related with selective attention in attentional blink especially with facial picture processing.