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Double dissociations between neglect tests: possible relation to lesion site.
1II Department for Neurology, Neurological Hospital Rosenhügel, LBI für Epilepsie und Neuromuskuläre Erkrankungen, University of Vienna, Austria.
European Neurology
|April 18, 2001
Summary
Spatial hemineglect is not a single condition. Some stroke patients showed deficits on one test for spatial neglect but not another, suggesting varied underlying causes.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Neurology
- Cognitive Psychology
Background:
- Spatial hemineglect is a common deficit following right hemisphere stroke.
- Assessing spatial hemineglect typically involves tasks like star cancellation and line bisection.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between star cancellation and line bisection performance in patients with right hemisphere stroke.
- To determine if spatial hemineglect is a unitary syndrome or comprises distinct deficits.
Main Methods:
- Studied 20 patients with a first right hemisphere stroke.
- Assessed performance on star cancellation and line bisection tests.
- Examined for double dissociations between the two tests.
Main Results:
- No significant correlation was found between star cancellation and line bisection performance in neglect patients.
- Five patients performed normally on one test while impaired on the other.
- One patient's isolated deficit on cancellation tasks suggested a possible lesion in the right anterior cingulate gyrus.
Conclusions:
- Spatial hemineglect is not a unitary syndrome.
- Different tasks may tap into distinct components of spatial attention.
- Lesions in specific brain regions, such as the anterior cingulate gyrus, may lead to isolated neglect deficits.