Neglect is characterized by failure to attend to one side of the body due to a lesion in which brain region?

Neglect is characterized by failure to attend to one side of the body due to a lesion in which brain region?

• A. Contralateral parietal lobe
• B. Frontal lobe
• C. Temporal lobe
• D. Occipital lobe

Answer: (A)

Unilateral spatial neglect arises when attention to stimuli on one side of space is disrupted, due to damage in the brain’s spatial-attention network in the contralateral parietal region. The parietal association cortex, especially the right inferior parietal area and the temporoparietal junction, is key for orienting attention and integrating spatial information across the body’s space. When this region is damaged, a person can ignore or fail to attend to one side of the body and space, most commonly the left side after a right-hemisphere injury, even though their basic sensory systems are intact. Other lobes aren’t typically the primary source of neglect. Frontal damage can affect exploration and attention as well but isn’t the classic substrate for the neglect syndrome. Occipital lesions produce visual field cuts, not the attentional neglect of one side. Temporal lobe pathology affects memory and language more than space-based attention.

Unilateral spatial neglect arises when attention to stimuli on one side of space is disrupted, due to damage in the brain’s spatial-attention network in the contralateral parietal region. The parietal association cortex, especially the right inferior parietal area and the temporoparietal junction, is key for orienting attention and integrating spatial information across the body’s space. When this region is damaged, a person can ignore or fail to attend to one side of the body and space, most commonly the left side after a right-hemisphere injury, even though their basic sensory systems are intact.

Other lobes aren’t typically the primary source of neglect. Frontal damage can affect exploration and attention as well but isn’t the classic substrate for the neglect syndrome. Occipital lesions produce visual field cuts, not the attentional neglect of one side. Temporal lobe pathology affects memory and language more than space-based attention.