Spatial hemineglect in back space.
The subjective location of the mid-sagittal plane was assessed by a free-field auditory localization task in the front and in the back half-spaces in 11 right brain-damaged patients with spatial hemineglect, 10 right brain-damaged patients without spatial hemineglect, and 11 normal control subjects. In patients with hemineglect the subjective mid-sagittal plane was found to be displaced rightwards in both half-spaces. Both patients without hemineglect and controls, in contrast, made a minor error, and showed a greater displacement towards the left side in the back half-space. In four right brain-damaged patients the rightward displacement was confined either to the front, or to the back half-space. This pattern of impairment may be explained by a rightward, ipsilesional, pathological translation of an egocentric co-ordinate system, rather than by a rotation around the vertical axis of the body.
Vallar
G
G
Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università di Roma, La Sapienza, Italia.
Guariglia
C
C
Nico
D
D
Bisiach
E
E
D000368:Aged; D001288:Attention; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D013037:Spatial Behavior; D014796:Visual Perception