Effect of stimuli in right hemispace on left-sided neglect in a line cancellation task

Abstract

Twenty-seven patients with right cerebral infarcts resulting in left-sided neglect in a line cancellation task were also tested for line cancellation when the lines were confined to the left half of sheets. All but one patient (whose neglect in the former condition was minimal) were still impaired in the latter condition, a finding that indicates that hyperattraction to test stimuli in the unneglected (right) hemispace was not the crucial factor preventing them from completing the standard version of the cancellation task, although it may have played some role. The results are consistent with the conclusion that hyperattention to stimuli in the unneglected hemifield, and possibly to stimuli in the unneglected hemispace, together with other factors, could account for the patients' impairment in line cancellation.