Sharon Male - Experimental Neuropsychology Research Unit

My research examines the temporal nature of attention, specifically in relation to older individuals and people with Parkinson's Disease (PD). The "attentional blink" (AB) paradigm involves the presentation of a stream of visual stimuli in a fixed location at a rate of 10 items/second, with a requirement to detect and/or identify two "targets" in the stream. Once the first target has been identified, healthy young people are unable to consistently correctly identify the second target between approximately 100ms and 500ms - a demonstration of the temporal limits of attention. The aim of my research is to examine: (1) how this constraint on attention may differ from young people in elderly people and patients with PD, as well as in these two groups with comorbid depression; and, (2) whether the use of different cognitive strategies may result in improved performance in all the groups being studied, including healthy young controls.