From Psy3242

Contents 1 Hemineglect: 1.1 Cause 1.2 Symptoms 1.3 Examples

Hemineglect:

Cause

Hemineglect is a behavioral syndrome in which there has been damage to the parietal lobe. The amount of Hemineglect shown is dependent on the extent of the damage to the parietal lobe. Usually the damage to the parietal lobes is caused by a stroke.
Although the damage can happen to either the left or right side, the effects are far greater when the left side of the individual is damaged (indicating right parietal lobe damage). The effects of the right parietal lobe are greater due to the fact is governs the control over the left parietal lobe and itself. Left side parietal damage forms a more manageable version of Hemineglect, due to the fact the right parietal lobe will still be able to govern over both sides.

Symptoms

Someone with Hemineglect is not able to pay any attention to half of their visual field. However there are reported cases of Hemineglect which individuals have different spatial referents such as left/right foreground or distance. Cases range from individuals not caring about the ½ of the visual field missing, to the extreme of the absolute denial of ½ of their own body.

Examples

When an individual with hemineglect is drawing a clock, half of the clock will be very dysfunctional if apparent at all. See the attached picture for an example. Although it seems as though these individuals are impaired, the non-damaged side is working just as any other normal person. It is the damaged side which is causing the problems.
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mental-imagery/unineglect.gifHemineglect can also be commonly referred to as hemispatial neglect or spatial neglect.