Visual search in school‐aged children with unilateral brain lesions

Abstract

In this preliminary study, visual search for targets within and beyond the initial field of view was investigated in seven school‐aged children (five females, two males; mean age at testing 8 years 10 months, SD1 year 3 months; range 6 to 10 years) with various acquired, postnatal, focal brain injuries (haematoma, haemorrhage, meningioma, neuroblastoma, and cerebral abscess) in anterior or posterior sites of the left or right hemisphere, and seven control children (matched for age and sex) were also studied. All participants attended mainstream primary schools. The children with lesions underwent surgery after diagnosis (mean age at diagnosis 5 years 4 months, SD 2 years 7 months). Group results indicated that for the overall scores on three psychometric tests of visuospatial and fine motor abilities (Southern California Figure Ground Perception Test, Visual Organization Test, and Visual‐Motor Integration Test), no difference between the children with left and right lesions was present. However, children with lesions in the right hemisphere, and not in the left hemisphere, took significantly more time than the controls to locate visual targets presented within and beyond the field of view. Examination of individual data suggested that, in accordance with brain imaging research, right‐sided anterior cerebral lesions sustained in early childhood might have an enduring detrimental effect on voluntary visual search performance during development. This persistent effect of early brain injury might imply that developmental plasticity of the brain does not apply to certain specific functions of particular areas of the right hemisphere.

Visual and cognitive profiles in children with and without cerebral visual impairment

“…Difficulties in visual exploration/visual search have already been reported by previous authors (Fazzi et al, 2007; Netelenbos & Van Rooij, 2004; Salati et al, 2002). Children with these abnormalities typically need more time to search through a stimulus template and are more likely to neglect stimuli.…”

“…Difficulties with global visual perception (overview) and visual search have been frequently reported in CVI (Fazzi et al, 2007; Netelenbos & Van Rooij, 2004; Salati et al, 2002; Zihl & Dutton, 2015, p. 92). These difficulties may be interpreted in terms of impaired parallel visual processing and spatial integration, resulting in a restriction of the field of attention, which is also a characteristic feature of (mild) Balint syndrome (Philip et al, 2016).…”

Plasticity of the visual system after early brain damage

“…Is visual search differentially affected in individuals with early damage to the visual system? Few studies have explored the effects of brain lesions acquired during childhood on visual search abilities, inconsistently reporting slower search responses in the contralesional visual field 96,97 . Other studies showed that patients who underwent hemispherectomy at 7 years of age or earlier showed greater sparing of visual orienting abilities compared with patients who underwent surgery at 17 years of age 98 .…”