Anatomical and neurological correlates of acute and chronic visuospatial neglect following right hemisphere stroke

Anatomical and neurological correlates of visuospatial neglect were studied in 53 patients with a CT-documented right hemisphere stroke. Evidence of neglect at the acute stage poststroke was strongly related to large lesions involving the middle temporal gyrus and/or the temporo-parietal paraventricular white matter. Thus, out of 18 patients with evidence of visuospatial neglect at the acute stage, 12 showed a lesion in the middle temporal gyrus and/or the deep temporo-parietal white matter. Among the 35 patients that failed to show visuospatial neglect, only one patient had a lesion within these areas. Comparing those patients who recovered from neglect with those that did not, a high correlation was found between persisting neglect and a lesion involving the paraventricular white matter in the temporal lobe. On the basis of above findings, it was suggested that a simultaneous damage to the cortico-thalamic system for regulation of arousal and to the neural systems mediating visual orienting, is likely to be followed by persisting neglect symptoms.