Neglect as a neural representation deficit

Abstract

In recent years two competing sets of theories have been advanced in order to explain neglect: the attentional theories and the representational theories. In this article we examine to what extent these explanations of neglect are consistent with the neurophysiological data. After a brief review of some crucial works on animals and man related to neglect, we conclude that this syndrome is essentially a representational deficit consequent to lesions of neural centers responsible for the organization of motor acts, in which space is coded in non-retinal coordinates. The attentional disturbances are interpreted as a secondary factor which may aggravate the syndrome.