Attention- Hemineglect

Question 1

Theory on why hemineglect appears for all modalities

Answer 1

Appears for all modalities that an internal representation of the left side of space is gone

Question 2

Competition Theory

Answer 2

Sensory stimuli on the non-neglected side prevents patients from attending to the information on the neglected side
— greater imbalance = greater attention is drawn to the intact side

Question 3

Evidence of competition theory

Answer 3

1.Patients with parietal lobe lesions have difficulty in
disengaging attention from the non-neglected side
2.Patients show less neglect when they “cancel” items by
erasing them, thereby reducing competing information on the
non-neglected side
3.TMS over the intact ipsilesional hemisphere, so as to reduce
its activity, results in a reduction of hemineglect

Question 4

Treating Hemineglect

Answer 4

Uses TMS and tDCS
attempts to: Down-regulate activity in the left hemisphere, up-regulate activity
in the damaged right hemisphere, or both
* Other approaches use methods that orient attention and action to
the left side of space
* Top-down approaches teach patients to guide their attention with aid
from a therapist or using training in a virtual reality environment
* Many patients can recover