A visual search serious game for measures of spatial and non-spatial attention in hemineglect

Ajana, Khawla [UCL] Everard, Gauthier [UCL] Lejeune, Thierry [UCL] Edwards, Martin [UCL]

Background and aims Hemineglect is an attentional disorder characterized by spatial and non-spatial (inhibition) attention deficits. Currently, there is no systematic evaluation of both attention components in clinical tests. Our aim was to create an innovative integrative measure combining the assessment of spatial and non-spatial attention. using a virtual reality serious game based on the visual search paradigm of Treisman (1980) Methods: We tested sixty healthy participants. They were asked to perform a target search task where the spatial target was a mole wearing a red helmet. In a feature search condition, the distractors were moles wearing blue helmets (with and without horns). In a conjunction search condition, the distractors were moles wearing blue helmet or a red helmet with horns. Responses were made with the dominant hand by hitting the target with a virtual hammer. Results: Reaction time results demonstrated a significant effect of search tasks and distractors (F(1,57) = 2175.6, p = 0.000; F (2,114) = 97.3, p = 0.000 respectively). Participants were significantly slower in the conjunction compared to feature search task, and they were slower when the number of distractors increased. A significant interaction between search tasks and distractors (F(2,114) = 106.4, p = 0.000) showed that reaction time only increased with distractor number for the conjunction search task. Conclusion: The innovative virtual reality serious game results replicate the Treisman paradigm, providing reliable measures of spatial and non-spatial attention. Future studies will test hemineglect patients in order to deepen the understanding of spatial and non-spatial components of hemineglect.