Performance on hemispatial pointing task by patients with neglect syndrome

Five patients with left hemispatial neglect and five aphasic control subjects were given a hemispatial pointing task. They were instructed to point to an imaginary point in space perpendicular to the midline of the chest. Right hemisphere-damaged subjects with neglect deviated more into the hemispace ipsilateral to the lesion than left hemisphere-damaged controls. This task did not require sensory input from left hemispace, and the defective performance cannot be attributed to sensory inattention or to impaired gaze or memory. The finding is compatible with hemispatial akinesia.