title: Altered orientation of spatial attention in depersonalization disorder.
abstract: Difficulties with concentration are frequent complaints of patients with depersonalization disorder (DPD). Standard neuropsychological tests suggested alterations of the attentional and perceptual systems. To investigate this, the well-validated Spatial Cueing paradigm was used with two different tasks, consisting either in the detection or in the discrimination of visual stimuli. At the start of each trial a cue indicated either the correct (valid) or the incorrect (invalid) position of the upcoming stimulus or was uninformative (neutral). Only under the condition of increased task difficulty (discrimination task) differences between DPD patients and controls were observed. DPD patients showed a smaller total attention directing effect (RT in valid vs. invalid trials) compared to healthy controls only in the discrimination condition. RT costs (i.e., prolonged RT in neutral vs. invalid trials) mainly accounted for this difference. These results indicate that DPD is associated with altered attentional mechanisms, especially with a stronger responsiveness to unexpected events. From an evolutionary perspective this may be advantageous in a dangerous environment, in daily life it may be experienced as high distractibility.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Mainz, Untere Zahlbacher Str. 8, D-55131 Mainz, Germany. Electronic address: julia.adler@unimedizin-mainz.de.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Adler
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Mainz, Untere Zahlbacher Str. 8, D-55131 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Manfred E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Beutel
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Mainz, Untere Zahlbacher Str. 8, D-55131 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Achim
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Knebel
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology, Institute of Psychology, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Berti
authors.affiliation: Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, University Medical Center Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Josef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Unterrainer
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Mainz, Untere Zahlbacher Str. 8, D-55131 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Michal
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003463:Cues; D003861:Depersonalization / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009949:Orientation; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time; D013028:Space Perception; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Benefits; Costs; Depersonalization disorder; Dissociative disorder; Reaction times; Spatial attention