Ipsilesional neglect: behavioral and anatomical correlates

Area of Science:

• Neuropsychology
• Neuroscience
• Brain Imaging

Background:

• Ipsilesional neglect is associated with right frontal and subcortical brain network damage.
• Previous research suggests this may lead to motor-intentional spatial errors ('aiming' bias).

Purpose of the Study:

• To confirm if frontal-subcortical circuits are commonly affected in ipsilesional neglect.
• To determine the prevalence of 'aiming' motor-intentional versus 'where' perceptual-attentional spatial errors.

Main Methods:

• Identified 12 participants with ipsilesional neglect using a computerized line bisection task.
• Quantified perceptual-attentional and motor-intentional errors using algebraic solutions.
• Performed lesion mapping via MRIcron software and overlap analysis.

Main Results:

• 83% of participants with ipsilesional neglect had frontal/subcortical damage, significantly higher than contralesional neglect samples (27%).
• Lesion overlap was greatest in frontal lobe white matter pathways.
• Participants predominantly exhibited 'where' perceptual-attentional bias over 'aiming' motor-intentional bias.

Conclusions:

• Data confirm ipsilesional neglect's association with right frontal-subcortical network lesions.
• Ipsilesional neglect in this cohort was strongly linked to 'where' perceptual-attentional bias, with less association with 'aiming' bias.