Publisher's Synopsis
The Experience of Visual Neglect
Many patients who suffer stroke have to overcome a variety of behavioral problems which effect the quality of their daily lives. Helping such patients to cope successfully with the effects of their stroke requires the recognition not only of the more common physical problems but also of the less obvious and just as disabling cognitive and perceptual problems.
Unilateral visual neglect remains one of the most striking consequences of right sided stroke and is characterised by the patients' failure to respond or attend to objects or people situated on that part of space opposite the side of the stroke. When the neglect is severe, the patient may behave as if the left side of space has abruptly ceased to exist in any meaningful form.
This programme provides an illustrated overview of some of the clinical and experimental behaviours commonly associated with visual neglect. Using contributions from clinical neurology and cognitive neuropsychology, the programme describes the striking and often complex nature of neglect. It concludes by presenting the views and insights from a patient with visual neglect.
Illustrations of Visual Neglect
Hemiplegia after stroke is often complicated by the presence of deficits in visual perception. In particular, visual neglect, a puzzling impairment of spatial attention, has been shown to influence functional recovery and active participation in rehabilitation. Patients with severe neglect behave as if they were selectively ignoring one side of space.
This programme illustrates several examples of neglect behaviour in drawing, copying, and constructional tasks and demonstrates some of the features that makes neglect one of the most puzzling conditions in clinical neurology today.
Art and Visuo-spatial Perception
The analysis of a graphic artist's work after right hemisphere stroke provides a unique opportunity to document the ways in which visuo-spatial and visuo-perceptual abilities can be impaired. This programme illustrates some of the changes in the drawing and sculpting skills of the distinguished artist Tom Greenshields after a stroke. Using examples from his pre-stroke drawings and sculptures, the programme traces Tom's recovery while illustrating the effects of visual neglect on his artistic productions after his stroke.
