Effects of acute alcohol intoxication on visuospatial attention

Abstract

<jats:p> The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of acute alcohol intoxication on the spatial distribution of visual attention measured with simple reaction times (RTs) to targets presented over an extended region of the visual field. Control (n =10) and alcohol groups (n =14) were tested with the same protocol. Participants were tested in two different conditions; in Experiment I, participants were instructed to direct their visual attention to the centre, while in Experiment II they were asked to orient their attention covertly to both right and left, but not to the centre. Throughout participants were required to fixate a small cross in the centre of the computer screen. In the alcohol group, participants received an alcohol dose of 0.4 g/kg so as to produce a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) in the range of 0.08% during the experiments. The spatial distribution of RTs was analysed graphically with geostatistical methods and statistically through analysis of variance of particular regions of the visual field. Results showed that controls were able to direct their attention tightly towards the centre (Expt I) and also to divide attention (Expt II) to the right and left. Participants in the alcohol group fixed their attention more diffusely in the centre (Expt I) and were unable to disengage attention from the centre in Experiment II. We conclude that acute alcohol intoxication impairs the ability to dissociate attention from gaze. Human &amp; Experimental Toxicology (2007) 26, 311-319 </jats:p>

Testing Alcohol Myopia Theory: Examining the Effects of Alcohol Intoxication on Simultaneous Central and Peripheral Attention

“…However, the number of participants per treatment condition was consistent with other recent studies (e.g. Canto-Pereira et al, 2007;Clifasefi et al, 2006;Harvey, 2014). Secondly, as pointed out by a reviewer, despite counterbalancing presentation order of the 4-and 6-item tasks the possibility of order effects must be acknowledged.…”

“…A similar effect has been proposed for attentional control, whereby alcohol narrows the focus of attention such that central rather than peripheral cues are prioritised (e.g. Canto-Pereira et al, 2007;Clifasefi et al, 2006;Harvey, 2015).…”

Alcohol, emotion and attention: revisiting the Alcohol Myopia Theory

“…In a recent study (Canto-Pereira, David, Machado-Pinheiro, & Ranvaud, 2007), for instance, volunteers had to respond (by pressing a keymanual reaction time, RT) to luminous points appearing at different positions on the screen while they kept staring at the fixation point in the center of the screen. According to classical works, faster RTs reflects facilitation of visual processing mediated by atten-tion alocation, whereas slower RTs would be observed to stimuli presented in regions out of the attentional focus (Posner, 1980;Rizzolatti, Riggio, Dascola, & Umilta, 1987).…”

“…In addition, the theory postulates that the amount of distractive stimulus processed largely depends on the relevant task difficulty. In that study (Canto-Pereira et al, 2007), volunteers should perform a simple visual detection task. One can note that although participants were asked to pay attention to lateral regions of the display, the fixation point at the center of the screen represented a distractive stimulus, which should be ignored.…”

“…Because the target task was not demanding, the distractive stimulus ended up strongly interfering with the performance, leading to a failure in inhibiting the fixation point processing by the intoxicated group. In other words, a less-demanding attentional task allowed a greater amount of resources available for the processing of a distractive stimulus (fixation point), thus interfering with attention allocation during the detection of target stimuli (Canto-Pereira et al, 2007;David et al, 2005). & Birbaumer, 2001;Erthal et al, 2005).…”