Ipsilesional ‘where’ with contralesional ‘what’ neglect

Abstract

Whereas contralesional spatial neglect is usually caused by right temporo-parietal lesions, ipsilesional spatial neglect is induced primarily by right frontal lesions. This report describes a 73-year-old woman with a right inferior parietal lesion who on ‘where’ tasks (line bisection and midline pointing) demonstrated ipsilesional neglect, but on ‘what’ tests (gap vs. no-gap detection cancellation and clothing tape removal) demonstrated contralesional neglect. This ‘what’ and ‘where’ directional dissociation provides evidence for independent ‘what’ and ‘where’ attentional networks; however, the reason this parietal lesion causes this contralesional vs. ipsilesional spatial attentional ‘what’ and ‘where’ dichotomy remains to be determined.

Keywords:

• Ipsilesional neglect
• Contralesional neglect
• Right inferior parietal lobe
• Personal neglect
• Spatial neglect

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a grant of the Korea Healthcare technology R&D Project, Ministry for Health, Welfare & Family Affairs, Republic of Korea (A050079) and also in part supported by the Research Service of the Veteran's Affairs Medical Center.