Detection of spatial frequency in brain-damaged patients: influence of hemispheric asymmetries and hemineglect

• Main Authors: Natanael Antonio Dos Santos, Suellen Marinho Andrade, Bernardino Fernández Calvo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2013-04-01
• Series: Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
• Subjects: Contrast Sensitivity; Stroke; hemispheric specialization; spatial frequency; hemineglect
• Online Access: http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00092/full

Hemispheric specialization for spatial frequency processing was investigated by measuring the contrast sensitivity curves of sine-wave gratings in 30 left or right brain-damaged patients using different spatial frequencies compared with healthy participants. The results showed that left brain-damaged patients were selectively impaired in processing high frequencies, whereas right brain-damaged patients were more impaired in the processing low frequencies, regardless of the presence of visuo-spatial neglect. These visual processing results can be interpreted in terms of spatial frequency discrimination, with both hemispheres participating in this process in different ways.