Alertness and visuospatial attention in clinical depression

BMC Psychiatry

Research Article

Walter Sturm¹  Michael Schwenzer²  Lisa Schock²  Klaus Mathiak³ 

[1] Department of Neurology, Clinical Neuropsychology, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany;Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany;JARA - Translational Brain Medicine, Jülich, Germany;Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany;JARA - Translational Brain Medicine, Jülich, Germany;Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine, INM-1, Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany;

关键词: Depressive Patient;    Attention Bias;    Left Visual Field;    Visuospatial Attention;    Leftward Bias;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-244X-11-78

 received in 2010-10-18, accepted in 2011-05-09,  发布年份 2011

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundCognitive deficits are a substantial burden in clinical depression. The present study considered dysfunction in the right-hemispheric attention network in depression, examining alertness and visuospatial attention.MethodsThree computerized visuospatial attention tests and an alertness test were administered to 16 depressive patients and 16 matched healthy controls.ResultsAlthough no significant group effect was observed, alertness predicted reduced visuospatial performance in the left hemifield. Furthermore, sad mood showed a trend towards predicting left visual field omissions.ConclusionsDecreased alertness may lead to lower left hemifield visuospatial attention; this mechanism may be responsible for a spatial bias to the right side in depression, even though treatment of depression and anxiety may reduce this cognitive deficit.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Schock et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2011