Neurological Disorders of Attention

Attention deficits are a frequent and particularly disabling consequence of many neurological disorders, from patients with focal brain lesions through to individuals with traumatic brain injury or neurodegenerative conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease. They are often associated with apparent confusion, fatigue, irritability, and increased time and effort to perform even simple everyday tasks, and constitute a real challenge for rehabilitation. In many cases, attention deficits may be crucial factors underlying failures of memory and higher cognitive functions, contributing to difficulties in resuming previous activities and independent daily living. Here the authors first consider four aspects of attention—selective, sustained, executive, and divided—together with brain regions and networks considered to underpin normal attention and disorders of attention. The authors focus on focal brain lesions, traumatic brain injury and Parkinson’s disease as important examples illustrating the effects of different brain pathologies on attention function.