Imaging studies of recovery from unilateral neglect

The paper reviews the contribution of functional neuroimaging investigations (using single photon emission tomography, positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance) to the study of the neural mechanisms of recovery in patients with unilateral spatial neglect due to stroke. In addition, it highlights the important contribution of Luigi Pizzamiglio's experimental work in establishing a theoretical framework for the interpretation of imaging findings. The main tenet of this conception is that the brain reorganisation associated to recovery results from the engagement of both ipsilesional and contralesional brain areas, which in normal subjects are associated to task-relevant processes, such as oculomotor behaviour and visuo-spatial attentional shifts.