Unilateral Spatial Neglect and Recovery From Hemiplegia

Abstract

A follow-up study was undertaken in order to investigate the outcome of recovery from right and left hemiplegia on simple motor function and activities of daily living. The role of concomitant neurophysiological deficits was also investigated. The main results indicate that after six months from onset, left hemiplegics show a lesser degree of improvement in independence and social adjustment coupled with a tendency to a poorer recovery of motor function than the corresponding group of right hemiplegics. Unilateral spatial neglect, which is more frequent and severe in the group of left hemiplegics, seems to be crucial in hampering their performance.

Right hemispatial neglect: Frequency and characterization following acute left hemisphere stroke

“…However, it is quite possible, as indicated by previous studies (e.g. Denes et al 1982), that neglect recovers more rapidly after LBD than RBD; we have not yet had the opportunity to conduct a follow-up study in these patients.…”

“…Neglect is most commonly reported following RBD, although several studies have reported neglect after LBD (Sunderland, Wade & Langton-Hewer, 1987;Vallar, Rusconi, Geminiani, & Berti, 1991;Denes, Semenza, Stoppa, & Lis, 1982). The results of these studies and one meta-analysis (Bowen, McKenna, & Tallis, 1999) are summarized in Table 3.…”

EFNS Guidelines on cognitive rehabilitation: report of an EFNS Task Force

“…The presence of hemineglect beyond the acute stage is associated with poor outcome in terms of independence (Denes et al, 1982;Stone et al, 1992) and considerable effort is therefore devoted to its rehabilitation. We review here published studies of neglect rehabilitation, and refer also to recently published reviews (Robertson and Hawkins, 1999;Robertson, 1999;Diamond, 2001), including the recent Cochrane review (Bowen et al, 2002).…”

Orienting of attention in left unilateral neglect

“…James [7] observed that ªmy experience is what I agree to attend to¼ Without selective interest, experience is an utter chaosº (p. 402). In a recent review, Parasuraman [8] identi®ed at least three independent but interacting components of attention: (1) selection, that is, mechanisms determining more extensive processing of some input rather than other; (2) vigilance, the capacity of sustaining attention over time; (3) control, the ability of planning and coordinating different activities.…”

“…Unilateral neglect negatively affects patients' motor recovery [3] and social rehabilitation. De®cits at different levels of impairment may be at work in different patients; however, the frequency and severity of attentional problems in neglect patients have been repeatedly underlined [4].…”