Motor Response Deficits of Unilateral Neglect: Assessment, Therapy, and Neuroanatomy

Abstract

The clinical impact of the motor deficits of unilateral neglect is indisputable. The diagnosis criteria are confusing and complicated, and assessment has been extended and modified gradually during the last few decades, which has led to inconsistency and confusion. Many different attempts have been made to overcome various assessment shortcomings. In this article, different examinations of previous studies and analyses are discussed in a systematic and critical way. Research databases were used to identify 254 reports, including 26 different empirical studies on motor neglect and 44 studies on premotor neglect. Most of the studies address the gross neuroanatomical location of lesions. The main findings indicate that frontal lesions are more common in motor neglect than in premotor neglect, and parietal lesions are more common in premotor neglect than in motor neglect. Few studies have evaluated therapeutic programs for the motor deficits of neglect. Unfortunately, most studies suffer from various diagnostic problems that result in inconsistent and controversial findings. Different assessment issues need to be addressed systematically in future studies in light of current findings to increase our understanding and awareness of these important neuropsychological motor deficits. Implications of and possible solutions to the current assessment shortcomings are discussed.

Key words:

• assessment
• motor neglect
• neuroanatomy
• premotor neglect
• therapy

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author is grateful to two anonymous reviewers for a critical evaluation and comments, to Professor Georg Goldenberg and Professor Wolfram Ziegler for a helpful discussion, and to Mrs. Aurélie Kley for her help in translating the French reports that were analyzed in the current review. This review is dedicated to the memory of neurologist Sverrir Bergmann Bergsson, who sadly passed away in 2012.

Notes

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