[Unilateral spatial neglect: a dramatic but often neglected consequence of right hemisphere damage]

(Négligence spatiale unilatérale: une conséquence dramatique mais souvent négligée des lésions de l'hémisphère droit.)

Full Abstract

INTRODUCTION:
Unilateral Spatial Neglect (USN) is a common consequence of right brain damage. In the most severe cases, behavioral signs of USN can last several years and compromise patients' autonomy and social rehabilitation. These clinical facts stress the need for reliable procedures of diagnosis and rehabilitation.

STATE OF THE ART:
The last 3 decades have witnessed an explosion of studies on USN, which raises issues related to complex cognitive activities such as mental representation, spatial attention and consciousness. USN is probably a heterogeneous syndrome, but some of its underlying mechanisms might be understood as an association of disorders of spatial attention. A bias of automatic orienting towards right-sided objects seems typical of left USN. Afterwards, patients find it difficult to disengage their attention in order to explore the rest of the visual scene. Neglected objects are sometimes processed in an "implicit" way.

PERSPECTIVES:
The development of behavioural paradigms and of neuroimaging techniques and their application to the study of USN has advanced our understanding of the functional mechanisms of attention and spatial awareness, as well as of their neural bases. A number of new procedures for rehabilitation have recently been proposed.

CONCLUSION:
The present review describes the clinical presentation of USN, its anatomical basis and some of possible accounts of different aspects of neglect behavior. Results of computer simulations and of rehabilitation techniques are also presented with implications for the functioning of normal neurocognitive systems.

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Author information

Author/s: Urbanski, M (M); Angeli, V (V); Bourlon, C (C); Cristinzio, C (C); Ponticorvo, M (M); Rastelli, F (F); Thiebaut de Schotten, M (M); Bartolomeo, P (P);

Affiliation: INSERM U610, Pavillon Claude Bernard, Hôpital de la Salpêtrière, Paris, France. urbanski(-atsign-)chups.jussieu.fr

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: English Abstract; Journal Article; Review

Journal: Revue neurologique (Rev Neurol (Paris)), published in France. (Language: fre)

Reference: 2007-Mar; vol 163 (issue 3) : pp 305-22

Dates: Created 2007/04/03; Completed 2007/09/14;

PMID: 17404518, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Art
Attention
Brain - pathology
Brain Injuries - complications
Cognition Disorders - etiology
Functional Laterality

Functional Laterality
Humans
Nerve Fibers - pathology
Orientation
Parietal Lobe - injuries
Perceptual Disorders - etiology

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