The right hemisphere handles alertness, vigilance, sustained attention, and divided attention
Vigilance and sustained attention are grossly impaired in subjects with right hemisphere lesions, especially right frontal lobe lesions; by contrast, in patients with left hemisphere lesions (therefore relying on their intact right hemisphere) vigilance is preserved. Patients with right hemisphere lesions also exhibit what is called perceptuomotor slowing, a sign of diminished alertness, associated with lapses of attention. Studies in both healthy subjects and split-brain patients corroborate the role of the right hemisphere in the ‘intensity’ aspects of attention; and scanning studies provide further confirmatory evidence of right hemisphere dominance in alertness and sustained attention. Overall it appears clear that intensity (alertness, vigilance and sustained attention) is reliant on the right hemisphere. While some studies suggest that both left and right hemispheres are involved, there appears to be a clear primary role for the right hemisphere, especially the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
References
- Mcgilchrist, Iain. (2010). The Master and His Emissary Chapter 2 What Do the Hemispheres Do (82). London, UK: Yale University Press.
Metadata
Type:🔵 Tags: Biology / Neuroscience / Neuropsychology Status:☀️