The Fluff Test: A simple task to assess body representation neglect

In clinical settings, relatively little attention has been paid to the personal domain in neglect syndrome. This is in contrast to the important role that this aspect can play in rehabilitation training for patients who show neglect syndrome. We propose a simple task, the Fluff Test, which consists of an own body exploration with one's eyes closed. Analyses of 27 brain-damaged patients, 11 left brain-damaged patients, and a group of 38 control subjects provide evidence that the Fluff Test can be used to assess deficits of body representation in neglect syndrome. This task has high test-retest reliability and is intended to compensate for the lack of measures evaluating patients' defective processing of one side of the body.