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Describe the visual search task to test voluntary gaze in those with frontal lobe lesions.

a. Locating a specific target among distractors.
b. Tracing a path on a map with various landmarks.
c. Identifying emotions in facial expressions.
d. Matching objects based on color and shape.

1 Answer

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Final answer:

A visual search task to test voluntary gaze among those with frontal lobe lesions involves finding a specific target amidst distractions, revealing potential issues with the frontal eye field region's function. This task engages multiple brain pathways and sections, including motor areas, and would be visibly active in an fMRI scan, indicating extensive brain involvement during such visual tasks.

Step-by-step explanation:

The visual search task designed to test voluntary gaze in individuals with frontal lobe lesions typically involves locating a specific target among distractors. This task is a method to understand the functionality of the frontal eye field region of the frontal lobe, which is associated with motor commands to orient the eyes toward an object of visual attention. Given that this region plays a key role in coordinating eye movements and attention, individuals with frontal lobe lesions may have difficulty with this task, highlighting issues with the voluntary control of gaze.

In this task, a subject would need to make use of various brain processes such as the ventral and dorsal visual streams for object recognition and spatial location processing, respectively. Furthermore, motor responses initiated in the frontal lobe and carried out by the motor cortex, along with corticobulbar and corticospinal tracts, would facilitate the movement of the eyes toward the target. During tasks like this, fMRI imaging would show activity in many parts of the brain, suggesting significant involvement of the nervous system and challenging the myth that humans only use 10 percent of their brains.

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