Brief remission periods in visuospatial neglect: evidence from long-term follow-up.
Ten patients with left-sided visuospatial neglect due to cerebrovascular accident were monitored using the Behavioural Inattention Test (BIT) at weekly intervals, on a long-term basis. The novel finding was that some patients showed occasional but transitory marked improvement in their visuospatial neglect at times producing a normal score. This spontaneous phenomenon was evidenced by the patient cancelling sections or the entire block of left-sided targets, without any additional cues or prompts. Such episodes indicate that, in this small group of patients, visuospatial neglect is not necessarily irrevocable, at least for simple stimuli.
Small
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M
University Department of Clinical Neurology, Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, UK.
Ellis
S
S
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001288:Attention; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009949:Orientation; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D012016:Reference Values; D012075:Remission, Spontaneous; D014792:Visual Acuity