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Right hemispatial inattention and magical ideation

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Abstract

In visual and tactile bisection tasks, healthy subjects have been reported to place the subjective midline towards the left of the objective midline. This phenomenon, known as “pseudoneglect”, has been interpreted as a right hemispatial inattention due to hypodopaminergic activity of the left hemisphere mesocortical dopamine system. In schizophrenic patients pseudoneglect was previously found to be correlated with severity of psychotic symptoms. We administered a tactile bisection task (rod centering) to 40 healthy students (20 women and 20 men). All participants also filled in the “Magical Ideation” scale which asks for hallucination-like experiences and delusion-like beliefs. There was no significant pseudoneglect for the group as a whole. However, Magical Ideation scores were significantly correlated to the size of relative right-sided inattention for the 20 men only. On the background of the findings in patients with schizophrenia we conclude that, at least in healthymen, susceptibility to schizophrenia-like experiences and thoughts is likewise accompanied by an attentional shift towards the left hemispace.

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Author notes

  1. P. Brugger

    Present address: Department of Neurology, University Hospital Zurich, CH 8091, Zurich, Switzerland

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, P.O. Box 3050, V8W 3P5, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

    P. Brugger & R. E. Graves

Authors
  1. P. Brugger
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  2. R. E. Graves
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Brugger, P., Graves, R.E. Right hemispatial inattention and magical ideation. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Nuerosci 247, 55–57 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02916254

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02916254

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