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Modulation of spatial attention in a child with developmental unilateral neglect

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 April 2003

Veronika B Dobler ,
Tom Manly ,
Chris Verity ,
Jonathan Woolrych  and
Ian H Robertson
Veronika B Dobler
Affiliation:
MRC – Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, UK.
Tom Manly
Affiliation:
MRC – Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, UK.
Chris Verity
Affiliation:
Child Development Centre, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK.
Jonathan Woolrych
Affiliation:
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Ian H Robertson
Affiliation:
Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.
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Abstract

Attentional neglect of left space is one of the most striking acquired neurological disorders of adulthood. Recent evidence indicates a link between left spatial neglect and general right-hemisphere impairments in sustained attention and alertness. Poor sustained attention and alertness is also a central feature of other disorders, particularly childhood attention-deficit–hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Here we present the case of a 7-year-old male showing that frank neglect can be present in children with sustained attention problems without a clear aetiological event, or obvious structural brain abnormalities as indicated by a normal MRI. Experimental amelioration of the neglect through left-hand movement and externally alerting stimulation by uninformative sounds further suggest close similarities to the adult disorder. We suggest that such distortions of spatial attention may be more common in childhood than previously thought.

Type
Case report
Information
Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology , Volume 45 , Issue 4 , April 2003 , pp. 282 - 288
Copyright
© 2003 Mac Keith Press

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Footnotes

We would like to thank Professor Barbara Wilson for her encouragement and supervisory support. The research was supported by an NHS Executive Eastern Grant and the Medical Research Council, UK. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS Executive Eastern.