J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 1992; 4:288-293
Copyright © 1992 by American Neuropsychiatric Association
Spatial attention in HIV-1 infection: a preliminary report
EM Martin, DJ Sorensen, LC Robertson, HE Edelstein and VA Chirurgi
Department of Neurology, University of California, Davis.
In a preliminary study, 30 nondemented human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1)
seropositive subjects without acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and 14
seronegative controls performed a reaction time measure of spatial
attention. Compared with controls, seropositive asymptomatic subjects
showed normal facilitation of reaction time at short cue- target intervals
when attention was precued, but symptomatic subjects were impaired.
However, asymptomatic subjects showed no evidence of normal inhibition of
attention at the cued location at longer cue- target intervals, suggesting
possible subtler spatial attentional deficits in this group. Cognitive
slowing in HIV-1 infection may have an attentional component, with possible
involvement of both automatic and controlled processes.
