Abstract
Unilateral visuospatial neglect and neglect dyslexia are neuropsychological syndromes in which patients exhibit consistently lateralised perceptual deficits. However, there is little agreement surrounding whether neglect dyslexia is best understood as a consequence of a domain-general visuospatial neglect impairment or as an independent, content-specific cognitive deficit. Previous case studies have revealed that neglect dyslexia is an exceptionally heterogeneous condition and have strongly suggested that not all neglect dyslexia patient error patterns can be fully explained as a consequence of domain-general visuospatial neglect impairment. Additionally, theoretical models which attempt to explain neglect dyslexia as a consequence of domain-general unilateral visuospatial neglect fail to account for neglect dyslexia errors which occur when reading vertically presented words, lack of neglect errors when reading number strings, and neglect dyslexia which co-occurs with oppositely lateralised domain-general visuospatial neglect. Cumulatively, these shortcomings reveal that neglect dyslexia cannot always be accurately characterised as a side-effect of domain-general visuospatial unilateral neglect deficits. These findings strongly imply that neglect dyslexia may be better understood as a content-specific impairment.
Highlights
Unilateral visuospatial neglect is a neuropsychological syndrome characterised by consistently lateralised perceptual deficits
Theoretical models which attempt to explain neglect dyslexia as a consequence of domain-general unilateral visuospatial neglect fail to account for neglect dyslexia errors which occur when reading vertically presented words, lack of neglect errors when reading number strings, and neglect dyslexia which co-occurs with oppositely lateralised domain-general visuospatial neglect
Driver and Pouget [63] argue that neglect deficits like neglect dyslexia which seem to involve object-centred impairments can be explained in terms of “relative” domain-general unilateral visuospatial neglect
Summary
Unilateral visuospatial neglect is a neuropsychological syndrome characterised by consistently lateralised perceptual deficits. Karnath and Rorden [38] proposed that unilateral visuospatial neglect is characterised by a core inability to distribute attention evenly throughout space and that this core deficit results in a series of lateralised spatial and attentional deficits, including syndromes such as object-based neglect, visual extinction, and neglect errors in reading This model of unilateral visuospatial neglect asserts that neglect-related cognitive deficits are best understood as satellite components of a unitary syndrome, each resulting from a shared core impairment. This commonality and impairment of letter unit activation has led to the conclusion that neglect dyslexia is caused by a disruption of visual feature analysis processes This classification explains neglect dyslexia as a side-effect of domain-general unilateral visuospatial neglect impairments rather than a content-specific cognitive deficit.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
