title: Time-of-day variation of visuo-spatial attention.
abstract: Time-of-day variation of visuo-spatial attention in relation to body temperature and subjective arousal was assessed. At five different times of day, alertness, covert, and overt orienting of attention were assessed in fifteen healthy subjects. Based on previous studies reporting a tight coupling of alerting and orienting the present study investigates potential attentional asymmetries induced by diurnal variations of arousal. Both covert and overt orienting of attention improved in the course of the day. However, no asymmetries between left and right visual hemifields could be detected. Covert orienting additionally covaried with body temperature, indicating a quite close relation between the attentional arousal and orienting system. Conversely, overt orienting only improved due to repeated testing but did not correlate with body temperature suggesting a partial independence of both modes of attentional orienting. It can be assumed that due to limited diurnal variations of arousal in the participants and practice effects caused by repeated testing, no attentional asymmetries could be provoked.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Section Neuropsychology, RWTH Aachen University, Germany.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fimm
authors.affiliation: Department of General Psychiatry, LVR Clinic of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Tanja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Brand
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychology, RWTH Aachen University, Germany.
authors.forename: Will
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Spijkers
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: arousal; attention; time-of-day; visuo-spatial attention