Intentional neglect

The neglect syndrome has been defined as a failure to report, respond or orient to novel or meaningful stimuli presented to the side opposite of a brain lesion when this failure can not be attributed to elemental sensory (e. g., hemianopia) or motor (hemiplegia) deficits. This failure to report, respond or orient can be induced by attentional, representation-memory, and intentional deficits. The four major intentional deficits that can be associated with neglect include, akinesia (body part, directional and hemispatial), impersistence, defective response inhibition and motor perseveration. In this article we define and discuss each of these intentional disorders, describe how to test patients for these disorders and the neuropsychological and pathophysiological mechanisms that might be associated with these disorders.