Spatial attention speeds discrimination without awareness in blindsight

Neuropsychologia. 2004;42(6):831-5. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2003.11.001.

Abstract

An intimate relationship is often assumed between visual attention and visual awareness. Using a subject, patient GY, with the neurological condition of "blindsight" we show that although attention may be a necessary precursor to visual awareness it is not a sufficient one. Using a Posner endogenous spatial cueing paradigm we showed that the time our subject needed to discriminate the orientation of a stimulus was reduced if he was cued to the location of the stimulus. This reaction-time advantage was obtained without any decrease in discrimination accuracy and cannot therefore be attributed to speed-error trade-off or differences in bias between cued and uncued locations. As a result of his condition GY was not aware of the stimuli to which processing was attentionally facilitated. Attention cannot, therefore be a sufficient condition for awareness.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Attention / physiology*
  • Awareness / physiology*
  • Blindness / physiopathology
  • Blindness / psychology
  • Brain Damage, Chronic / physiopathology
  • Consciousness / physiology
  • Discrimination, Psychological / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Signal Detection, Psychological
  • Space Perception / physiology*
  • Vision, Ocular / physiology*
  • Visual Cortex / physiopathology
  • Visual Fields / physiology
  • Visual Perception / physiology*