It may sound fantastical, but this is a reality for people with a neurological condition commonly referred to as left neglect. After damage to the right side of ...WhatisLeftNeglect? 8minreadImaginethatthere’snothingwrongwithyoureyes,butyoucanonlyseewhat’sontherightsideofyourplate.Youstartwritinginthemiddleofthepage,andsentencesyoureadseemtostartmid-sentence.Youleaveyourbedroomwithonlyyourrightarmthroughyourshirtsleeveandonlytherightsideofyourhaircombed.Apersonwithleftneglectmayonlyeatwhattheyseeontherightsideoftheplate.Itmaysoundfantastical,butthisisarealityforpeoplewithaneurologicalconditioncommonlyreferredtoasleftneglect.Afterdamagetotherightsideoftheirbrain,manystrokeandbrain-injurysurvivorsareleftwiththistypeofattentiondeficit—andtheymaynotevenbeawareofit.It’sestimatedthat25percentofright-sidedstrokes(RCVAs,orright-sidedcerebrovascularaccidents)resultinsomedegreeofleftneglect.Variousstudiesreportarangeof13to80percent(Barrett,2006),dependingonthetimingandthetypeofassessmentused.Regardlessoftheexactfigure,wedoknowthatapersonwhohasneglectismorelikelytohaveothercognitive-communicationdeficitsandapooreroverallprognosisthanapersonwhodoesn’thaveneglect.Damagetotheleftsideofthebraincancauserightneglect,butthisconditionislesscommonandoftenlessseverethanleftneglect.Manypeoplewithleft-sidedbraindamagealsohaveaphasia,alanguagedisorder,whichmakesthemoremildrightneglecthardertodetect.Inahealthybrain,bothcerebralhemispheresattendtotherightsideofspace,whereasonlytherightsideofthebrainattendstotheleftsideofspace.Asaresult,damagetotherighthemispherecanresultinmoreseriousdeficitsthandamagetothelefthemisphere.VisualAttentionTherapy hasoptionsfortreatingbothleftneglectandrightneglect.SimplyindicatewhereyouwantthevisualsignaltoappearinthePracticeactivity.It’simportanttounderstandthatsomeonewhosuffersneglectisnotconsciouslyignoringanything.Attentionispartofcognition,whichiscontrolledbycomplexneurologicalcircuitsandstructures.Aperson’sfailuretopayattentiontoaparticularportionofspaceis