A nommocnu impairment

Article Abstract:

Individuals with the neurological disorder, unilateral neglect, have lesions on one side of the brain. These individuals have difficulty responding when stimulated on the side of the brain opposite to the lesion, and may not be able to manipulate objects on that side of the body. For example, patients with unilateral neglect can pull on only one leg of a pair of pants. A patient with unilateral neglect was studied who had a lesion that occurred in the left parietal lobe of the brain. The patient could read the left sides of words but made errors with the right side. However, it was shown that the patient had difficulties with the second halves of words, even if the words were presented backwards or vertically. It was concluded that the center of the word is what is recognized. To test this hypothesis, the patient was shown the words, 'contrast' and 'contrastiveness'. The patient was able to recognize the word 'contrast' within the word 'contrastiveness', but not the word 'contrast' alone. Other studies showed that when patients with unilateral neglect with lesions on the right side of the brain were asked to copy a painting, the patients drew all of the objects, but each object was missing one side. Patients with lesions on the left side of the brain did not do this. The left hemisphere of the brain is dominant for words, while the right hemisphere appears to be dominant for objects. This could explain the different types of impairments seen in patients with unilateral neglect who have lesions on different sides of the brain. Studies of patients such as these can lead to the further understanding of how the brain works. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

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Spatial representation of words in the brain implied by studies of a unilateral neglect patient

Article Abstract:

To be able to read and write, it is necessary to recognize words. Studies of patients with a neurological disorder, unilateral neglect, provide evidence that the information for words is spatially coded for in the brain. Patients with unilateral neglect have lesions on one side of the brain, and they have difficulty responding when stimulated on the side of the brain opposite to the lesion. A patient with unilateral neglect with a lesion on the left parietal lobe of the brain was studied. The patient could read the left side of words, but made errors with the right side. However, it was shown that the patient had difficulties with the second half of words. The patient had trouble with the second half of words, even if the words were presented backwards so that the second half of the word was on the left-hand side, or if the words were presented vertically. It was concluded that the center of the word is the portion that is recognized. To test this hypothesis, the patient was shown the words, 'contrast' and 'contrastiveness'. The patient was able to recognize the word 'contrast' within the word 'contrastiveness', but not the word 'contrast' alone. Studies such as these can lead to a better understanding of how the brain works. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Physiological aspects

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Drawing upon the mind's eye

Article Abstract:

A new case of associative visual agnosia has been described in detail by Marlene Behrmann and colleagues. This condition is marked by an inability to identify familiar objects despite having normal perceptual abilities. This disorder probably results from either a disruption of higher levels of perception or a deficient lateral inhibition between the neural representations of visually similar objects. Moreover, the patient's unimpaired ability to differentiate faces indicates the existence of a brain module responsible for recognizing faces.

Agnosia

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