The relationship between visuospatial and representational neglect

Bartolomeo, Paolo MD
D'Erme, Patrizia MD, PhD
Gainotti, Guido MD

Institute of Neurology, Catholic University, Rome, Italy.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Paolo Bartolomeo, Institute of Neurology, Catholic University, Largo A. Gemelli, 8,1-00168 Rome, Italy.

Received December 6, 1993. Accepted in final form February 21, 1994.

Neurology 44(9):p 1710-1714, September 1994.

Article abstract

Using a quantitative measure, we analyzed the relationship between visuospatial and representational neglect in right- and left-brain-damaged patients and found signs of representational neglect only in right-brain-damaged patients. Although representational neglect was always associated with visuospatial neglect, suggesting that the two forms share a common underlying mechanism, the most frequent finding in right-brain-damaged patients was that of visuospatial neglect in isolation. A strong influence of the phenomenon of attentional attraction toward space ipsilateral to the lesion in visuospatial, as opposed to imaginal, tasks can account for this finding.