Measuring attention in the hemispheres: The lateralized attention network test (LANT)

Abstract

The Attention Network Test (ANT) is a brief computerized battery measuring three independent behavioral components of attention: Conflict resolution (ability to overcome distracting stimuli), spatial Orienting (the benefit of valid spatial pre-cues), and Alerting (the benefit of temporal precues). Imaging, clinical, and behavioral evidence demonstrate hemispheric asymmetries in these attentional networks. We constructed a lateralized version of the ANT (LANT), with brief targets flashed in one or the other visual hemifield. We also modified the tests by including invalid spatial cues in order to measure the cost component of Orienting. In a series of experiments, we investigated the efficiency of the attention networks separately in each hemisphere. Participants exhibited significant estimates of all networks measured by the LANT, comparable to the ANT. The three networks were represented in each hemisphere separately and were largely comparable across the two hemispheres. We suggest that the LANT is an informative extension of the original ANT, allowing for measurement of the three attention networks in each hemisphere separately. Keywords attention; conflict; executive; orienting; vigilance; hemispheric specialization; hemispheric independence Attention is believed to involve a bilaterally distributed network whose components are asymmetrically represented in the two hemispheres. Physiological/imaging correlates of attention show that sustained attention (vigilance) tasks yield prefrontal and parietal activation, preferentially in the right hemisphere (RH) (Posner & Petersen, 1990). Stroop and flanker-type conflict resolution tasks selectively engage the anterior cingulate cortex and Address correspondence to Deanna J. Greene, Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, 1285 Franz Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, USA, Email: HYPERLINK "mail to: djgreene@ucla.edu" djgreene@ucla.edu, Phone: (310) Fax: (310) 206-3655. Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. (Fan, Flombaum, McCandliss, Thomas, & Posner, 2003). Orienting of visuospatial attention selectively engages right parietal cortex (Corbetta, Kincade, Ollinger, McAvoy, & Shulman, 2000). Clinical and behavioral evidence is largely consistent with the imaging data. Clinical studies confirm that the RH is specialized for alerting, arousal and vigilance (Posner & Petersen, 1990). Hemi-neglect is more often reported and more severe in patients with right than left parietal lesions (for a review, see Mesulam, 1999). Further, normal and split-brain participants demonstrate a gradient ...

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“…A previous study found no alerting effect when no-cue trials and double-cue trials were mixed with 100% valid single-cue trials, but there was a significant alerting effect when mixed with 75% valid single-cue trials (Greene et al, 2008). However, it was not clear whether the difference between the two conditions was statistically significant, as no statistics were reported.…”

The Efficiency of Attentional Networks in Early and Late Bilinguals: The Role of Age of Acquisition

“…The LANT task used in the current study was based to a large extent on the procedure proposed by Greene et al (2008), in which generally no asymmetries were observed. Thus, the fact that some VF effects were obtained, and were even quite consistent between groups, is noteworthy.…”

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“…Orienting and reorienting of spatial attention can be differentiated by spatial cues which provide valid or invalid information about the location of an upcoming target; stimulus detection is facilitated when the target appears at the expected, i.e., validly cued location (Posner, 1980). Modified versions of the ANT include spatially invalid cue conditions to assess also spatial reorienting (Fan et al, 2009;Greene et al, 2008;Konrad et al, 2006) and/or present the target arrows next to the central fixation cross in the left or right visual field (Chica et al, 2011(Chica et al, , 2012Fan et al, 2009;Greene et al, 2008;Kellermann et al, 2011;Konrad et al, 2006;Thienel et al, 2009aThienel et al, , 2009b.…”