title: Dissociable spatial and non-spatial attentional deficits after circumscribed thalamic stroke.
abstract: Thalamic nuclei act as sensory, motor and cognitive relays between multiple subcortical areas and the cerebral cortex. They play a crucial role in cognitive functions such as executive functioning, memory and attention. In the acute period after thalamic stroke attentional deficits are common. The precise functional relevance of specific nuclei or vascular sub regions of the thalamus for attentional sub functions is still unclear. The theory of visual attention (TVA) allows the measurement of four independent attentional parameters (visual short term memory storage capacity (VSTM), visual perceptual processing speed, selective control and spatial weighting). We combined parameter-based assessment based on TVA with lesion symptom mapping in standard stereotactic space in sixteen patients (mean age 41.2 ± 11.0 SD, 6 females), with focal thalamic lesions in the medial (N = 9), lateral (N = 5), anterior (N = 1) or posterior (N = 1) vascular territories of the thalamus. Compared with an age-matched control group of 52 subjects (mean age 40.1 ± 6.4, 35 females), the patients with thalamic lesions were, on the group level, mildly impaired in visual processing speed and VSTM. Patients with lateral thalamic lesions showed a deficit in processing speed while all other TVA parameters were within the normal range. Medial thalamic lesions can be associated with a spatial bias and extinction of targets either in the ipsilesional or the contralesional field. A posterior case with a thalamic lesion of the pulvinar replicated a finding of Habekost and Rostrup (2006), demonstrating a spatial bias to the ipsilesional field, as suggested by the neural theory of visual attention (NTVA) (Bundesen, Habekost, & Kyllingsbæk, 2011). A case with an anterior-medial thalamic lesion showed reduced selective attentional control. We conclude that lesions in distinct vascular sub regions of the thalamus are associated with distinct attentional syndromes (medial = spatial bias, lateral = processing speed).
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany; Berlin Institute of Health, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: antje.kraft@charite.de.
authors.forename: Antje
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kraft
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Irlbacher
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, General and Experimental Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Kathrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Finke
authors.affiliation: Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kaufmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kehrer
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Liebermann
authors.affiliation: Center of Visual Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Claus
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bundesen
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Stephan A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Brandt
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013788:Thalamus / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology
keywords: TVA; Thalamic infarction; Vascular syndromes; Visual attention deficits; Visual processing speed