Bilateral parietal lesions disrupt the beneficial effects of prism adaptation: evidence from a patient with optic ataxia

Abstract

Prism adaptation (PA) alleviates some neglect symptoms, however, the mechanisms underlying these effects are unclear. One brain area that may be important in generating these beneficial effects is the superior parietal lobe (SPL), a region not typically damaged in neglect, and known to be important for attention, visuomotor control, and eye movements. We examined the effects of rightward PA on covert attention in CF, a patient with bilateral SPL lesions, compared to a group of controls (N = 26) who underwent sham adaptation. In contrast to previous work in neglect, there was no reduction in CF's leftward disengage deficit, or rightward attentional bias following PA. These results suggest that the SPL plays an important role in generating the beneficial after-effects of prisms on attention.