Neglect as a neural representation deficit.
In recent years two competing sets of theories have been advanced in order to explain neglect: the attentional theories and the representational theories. In this article we examine to what extent these explanations of neglect are consistent with the neurophysiological data. After a brief review of some crucial works on animals and man related to neglect, we conclude that this syndrome is essentially a representational deficit consequent to lesions of neural centers responsible for the organization of motor acts, in which space is coded in non-retinal coordinates. The attentional disturbances are interpreted as a secondary factor which may aggravate the syndrome.
Rizzolatti
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G
Istituto di Fisiologia Umana, Università di Parma, Italia.
Berti
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A
D000818:Animals; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D000882:Haplorhini; D006801:Humans; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D011596:Psychomotor Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013577:Syndrome