Attentional blink in adults with Tourette syndrome

Abstract

An attentional blink (AB) paradigm was used to assess the ability of Tourette syndrome (TS) participants to detect and correctly identify two red target letters (T1 and T2) in a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) task. An AB was demonstrated for both patients and controls; identification of the second target (T2) was impaired when it appeared within 200 - 500 ms of the first (T1). Interestingly, there was no difference between the groups in AB duration or magnitude. While there was a trend for reduced T2 identification in the TS group, this was not significant. Analysis of pre-target and post-target intrusion errors for T2 identification (as a function of T1-T2 interval) was conducted and, once again, no significant group differences were demonstrated. These results are indicative of a relative preservation of selective attention in TS.