Spatial attention can transfer to the contralateral hemisphere in neonatal stroke patients: a case report following hemispherectomy

Abstract

Patients suffer hemispatial neglect after stroke. However, whether the function of spatial attention is reorganized to the contralateral brain remains poorly understood. Here we present a case report of neonatal stroke to demonstrate the reorganization of spatial attention in the contralateral hemisphere using a series of tests including star cancellation task, line bisection test, the bells test, letter cancellation test, and drawing tests. The patient underwent right hemispherectomy for treatment of refractory epilepsy and did not have hemispatial neglect after surgery, supporting transfer of function prior to the operation. After analyzing the literature in this field, we proposed that the function of spatial attention may transfer to the contralateral side in childhood. Thus, this study sheds new light on the preserved function of spatial attention in neonatal stroke patients even when hemispherectomy is performed.

Keywords:

• Epilepsy
• Hemispatial neglect
• Hemispherectomy
• Neonatal stroke
• Neuroplasticity

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Medjaden Bioscience Limited for assisting in the preparation of this paper.