Subcortical neglect is not always a transient phenomenon: Evidence from a 1-year follow-up study

Abstract

Compared to cortical lesions, spatial neglect following subcortical stroke is most frequently seen as a mild and transient phenomenon. Since this assumption is based on only few observations, we reexamined the prognosis and severity of spatial neglect in patients with circumscribed right-sided basal ganglia or thalamic lesions in the acute and in the chronic phase of the stroke. On average, 1.15 years after stroke, spatial neglect had persisted in about 40% of the patients with subcortical lesions. The severity was reduced to about one third. The results argue against the view that spatial neglect following subcortical lesions typically has a favorable prognosis.

Keywords:

• Spatial neglect
• Prognosis
• Recovery
• Stroke
• Basal ganglia
• Thalamus
• Human

This work was supported by the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF-Verbundprojekt “Räumliche Orientierung” 01GW0641) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB 550-A4, Graduiertenkolleg Neurobiologie).