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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 4, 2026

Virtual Reality Tools for Assessing Unilateral Spatial Neglect: A Novel Opportunity for Data Collection

Virtual Reality Tools for Assessing Unilateral Spatial Neglect: A Novel Opportunity for Data Collection

Published on: March 10, 2021

Symmetrical hemispheric priming in spatial neglect: a hyperactive left-hemisphere phenomenon?

Kimihiro Nakamura¹, Tatsuhide Oga, Motohiko Takahashi

¹Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, NeuroSpin, CEA/SAC/DSV/I2BM, Gif-sur-Yvette, France. kimihiro.nakamura@live.fr

Cortex; a Journal Devoted to the Study of the Nervous System and Behavior

|February 5, 2011

Summary

Spatial neglect patients show altered brain activity, with the left hemisphere becoming overactive after right-hemisphere damage. This impacts word recognition, suggesting a covert behavioral change in spatial neglect.

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Virtual Reality Tools for Assessing Unilateral Spatial Neglect: A Novel Opportunity for Data Collection

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Evaluation of Hemisphere Lateralization with Bilateral Local Field Potential Recording in Secondary Motor Cortex of Mice

Evaluation of Hemisphere Lateralization with Bilateral Local Field Potential Recording in Secondary Motor Cortex of Mice

Published on: July 31, 2019

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Psychology
Neurology

Background:

Hemispheric rivalry models propose left hemisphere hyperactivity post-right hemisphere lesions due to disrupted inter-hemispheric inhibition.
This hyperactivity may extend to higher-order abstract representational systems in spatial neglect.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if altered hemispheric balance in spatial neglect affects abstract representational systems.
To examine the impact of right-hemisphere damage on inter-hemispheric communication in word recognition.

Main Methods:

A masked hemifield priming paradigm was employed with neglect patients and control groups.
Participants performed semantic categorization of target words preceded by masked primes in either visual field.

Main Results:

Healthy controls showed a left-hemisphere advantage in inhibitory syllabic priming, reflecting lexical inhibition during reading.
Spatial neglect patients exhibited symmetrical priming across visual fields, indicating a loss of left-hemisphere dominance.

Conclusions:

The neglected hemifield can process abstract information from subliminal stimuli.
Spatial neglect patients likely lack normal left-hemispheric dominance in reading due to generalized left-hemisphere hyperactivity.
Altered inter-hemispheric balance may underlie covert behavioral changes in spatial neglect word recognition.