Neurologically intact individuals usually show a leftward bias in spatial attention, known as pseudoneglect, likely reflecting a right-hemisphere dominance in the control of spatial attention. A leftward bias also seems to manifest when individuals are asked to provide aesthetic judgments about visual stimuli, like artworks. However, whether artwork perception affects the allocation of spatial attention has never been directly investigated. Here, we assessed whether viewing figurative paintings affects hemispheric imbalance in the control of spatial attention by asking participants to bisect a series of lines presented on a grey background, on figurative paintings or on non-artistic photographs of real-world scenes, while either simply observing or explicitly evaluating each image. In line with previous evidence, participants showed a leftward bisection bias in the baseline condition, reflecting pseudoneglect. Critically, the presence of a painting in the background (irrespective of whether an aesthetic evaluation was required or not) significantly shifted the bias further to the left compared to when lines were bisected over a grey background (baseline) or a photographed scene. This finding suggests that perception of visual art may affect the control of spatial attention, possibly tapping on right-hemisphere resources related to visuospatial exploration, regardless of reward apprehension mechanisms (at least when images do not evoke strong emotional reactions leading to polarized like/dislike judgements).

神经学完好的个体通常在空间注意力方面表现出向左偏斜，即假性忽视，这很可能反映了在控制空间注意力方面右半球占主导地位。当要求个人提供关于视觉刺激（如艺术品）的美学判断时，似乎也向左偏。但是，艺术品感知是否会影响空间注意力的分配从未被直接研究过。在这里，我们通过要求参与者将灰色背景，具象绘画或真实场景的非艺术照片上呈现的一系列线条一分为二，来评估观看具象绘画是否会影响空间注意力控制中的半球不平衡。观察或明确评估每个图像。根据先前的证据，参加者在基线状态下显示向左平分偏斜，反映出假性忽视。至关重要的是，与将线条在灰色背景（基线）或拍摄的场景上一分为二相比，背景中存在绘画（无论是否需要进行美学评估）都将偏见进一步向左移动。这一发现表明，对视觉艺术的感知可能会影响对空间注意力的控制，可能会利用与视觉空间探索相关的右半球资源，而不管奖励的理解机制如何（至少当图像未引起强烈的情绪反应而导致两极分化/不喜欢时）判断）。与在灰色背景（基线）或拍摄的场景上将线一分为二相比，背景中存在绘画（无论是否需要进行美学评估）都将偏见进一步向左移动。这一发现表明，对视觉艺术的感知可能会影响对空间注意力的控制，可能会利用与视觉空间探索相关的右半球资源，而不管奖励的理解机制如何（至少当图像未引起强烈的情绪反应而导致两极分化/不喜欢时）判断）。与在灰色背景（基线）或拍摄的场景上将线一分为二相比，背景中存在绘画（无论是否需要进行美学评估）都将偏见进一步向左移动。这一发现表明，对视觉艺术的感知可能会影响对空间注意力的控制，可能会利用与视觉空间探索相关的右半球资源，而不管奖励的理解机制如何（至少当图像未引起强烈的情绪反应而导致两极分化/不喜欢时）判断）。