Global perception in simultanagnosia is not as simple as a game of connect-the-dots.
Simultanagnosia is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a restriction of visuospatial attention. In addition, patients are able to identify local elements of a scene, but not the global whole. This may be due to a failure to scan and assemble local elements into a global whole (i.e. connect-the-dots). We monitored the eye movements of a simultanagnosic patient while she identified local and global elements of hierarchical letters. Scanning each local element was not necessary, nor sufficient, for successful global level identification. Our results argue against a connect-the-dots strategy of global identification and suggest that residual global processing may be occurring.
Dalrymple
Kirsten A
KA
Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z4. kdalrymple@psych.ubc.ca
Bischof
Walter F
WF
Cameron
David
D
Barton
Jason J S
JJ
Kingstone
Alan
A
D000377:Agnosia / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology*; D001288:Attention; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000502:physiology