Affiliations: Department of Psychology, University of Durham,
Uk | School of Psychology, University of St. Andrews, Fife,
UK | Department of Psychology, University of Utrecht,
Netherlands | Department of Medicine, University of Dundee, UK
Note: [] Corresponding author: R.D. McIntosh, Department of Psychology,
University of Durham, Durham DH1 3LE, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: Right hemisphere damaged patients with and without left visual
neglect, and age-matched controls had objects of various sizes presented within
left or right body hemispace. Subjects were asked to estimate the objects'
sizes or to reach out and grasp them, in order to assess visual size processing
in perceptual-experiential and action-based contexts respectively. No
impairments of size processing were detected in the prehension performance of
the neglect patients but a generalised slowing of movement was observed,
associated with an extended deceleration phase. Additionally both patient
groups reached maximum grip aperture relatively later in the movement than did
controls. For the estimation task it was predicted that the left visual neglect
group would systematically underestimate the sizes of objects presented within
left hemispace but no such abnormalities were observed. Possible reasons for
this unexpected null finding are discussed.
