Contralesional neglect of constructed visual images in right and left brain-damaged patients

Patients with left- and right-hemispheric cortical lesions and right-handed control subjects were compared on a task requiring them to judge pairs of shapes as same or different. When the shapes were moved behind a narrow viewing slit, requiring the subjects to mentally construct their horizontal dimensions, patients with right-sided lesions showed relative neglect of the left sides of the shapes, while patients with left-sided lesions showed relative neglect of the right sides. Control patients showed no overall unilateral neglect. All patients exhibited contralesional neglect on this task even if they did not show visual hemineglect on more routine measures.