Directional hypokinesia and hemispatial inattention in neglect.
Subjects with neglect of left hemispace may err to the right when bisecting lines. This error has been attributed either to a directional hypokinesia (failure to execute movements fully in or towards the contralateral hemispace) or to a failure to attend to or represent sensory information. Four subjects with neglect were tested on a line bisection task in which these two hypotheses were differentiated by preventing direct viewing of the line and instead using a video camera and monitor, each of which could be moved independently into right or left hemispace. The performance of 2 subjects was consistent with the predictions of the directional hypokinesia hypothesis; the performance of the other 2 subjects was consistent with the attention-representation deficit hypothesis. These data suggest that both a directional hypokinesia and an attention-representation deficit may each be a primary determinant of neglect.
Coslett
H B
HB
Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA.
Bowers
D
D
Fitzpatrick
E
E
Haws
B
B
Heilman
K M
KM
D000368:Aged; D001288:Attention; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009069:Movement Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed