Effects of non-focal brain dysfunction on visual memory

Investigated the effects of non-focal brain damage on visual memory abilities with a sample of 114 Ss with confirmed brain-dysfunction and 71 controls who completed the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test. In contrast, to the findings of earlier studies of patients with focal brain-damage, right-hemisphere lesioned Ss could not be discriminated from left-hemisphere lesioned Ss on the basis of impaired visual recall. All three brain-damaged groups, however, performed more poorly than the control group in both the copy and recall phases of the task. Age and intelligence also were found to be related inversely to task performance. Implications of these data for clinical neuropsychological assessment are discussed.