The impact of directed vision in auditory extinction: Preliminary evidence in aphasia

Abstract

Background: Researchers have discovered that individuals with aphasia demonstrate deficits in auditory attention (McNeil, Odell, & Tseng, 1991; Murray, 2000), which arguably impedes rehabilitation progress. Additionally, recent research suggests that altering non‐brain‐damaged individuals' visual attention may work to increase auditory attention (Rorden & Driver, 1999).

Aims: In the present study, tasks for assessing extinction (Double Simultaneous Stimulation) were used to determine if directing eye gaze would increase auditory extinction performance for individuals with aphasia. It was hypothesised that directing a patient's eye gaze (visual attention) to the extinguished (omitted) side during the task would “cue” the patient to the side omitted, thereby increasing performance on the auditory task.

Methods & Procedures: Five individuals with aphasia (M = 71.6 years) and five healthy controls (M = 77.8 years) completed three auditory tasks to test for extinction: two baseline (Letter₁ and Letter₂) and one experimental (Look). All three tasks required participants to identify and localise the letters presented; however, in the experimental task the participants were directed to look at the sound source (a speaker) on the side where the omission errors were occurring.

Outcomes & Results: While participants with aphasia made more omission errors (extinction) than the control group, performance was not altered by static directed visual attention to the side of omissions. Although preliminary, these data suggest that auditory extinction may not decrease in individuals with aphasia similar to findings by Robin and Rizzo (1989).

Conclusions: These data provide preliminary results that, while auditory extinction may be evident in individuals with aphasia, simply directing their vision to a given location may not lead to increased performance. Further research in this area can lead to advancements in theoretical and functional assessment for individuals with aphasia who have auditory attention and require speech‐language pathology intervention.

This work was supported by intramural funding from the University of Georgia Gerontology Center, the National Institutes of Deafness and Communication Disorders (Grant 5R03DC5128‐2), and by the generous participants who volunteered their time.