title: Object-centered neglect for letters: do informational asymmetries play a role?
abstract: In a study of right-parietal patients, Behrmann and Moscovitch [Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, Vol. 6, pp.1-16, 1994] found object-centered left neglect for asymmetrical but not symmetrical letters, leading them to attribute this neglect to the objects' canonical handedness or intrinsic asymmetry. Using a similar task, we find the same results in neurologically intact observers. However, right-sided bias was observed only when the letters were identified. Because asymmetrical letters are distinguished by features on their right sides, we propose that the apparent object-centered bias in normals and in right-parietal patients may arise from attending to identifying features rather than from representational differences between symmetrical and asymmetrical letters.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109-1109, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Drain
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Reuter-Lorenz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D003116:Color; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011932:Reading; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*