Neuroscience/Cognitive Neuroscience/Neglect

Thiebaut de Schotten et al. (2005) produced "temporary" neglect in human patients by brief electrical inactivation of the cortex of the parietal lobe. This finding gives strong support to the idea that neglect results from the disruption of a widespread cortical network that involves neuronal cell bodies in large areas of cortex, including the frontal lobe, parietal lobe, and possibly the occipital lobe.

Ablation of large areas of the gray matter of the parietal cortex in the monkey, leaving the underlying white matter intact, does not result in neglect. However, neglect can be produced by cutting through the white matter, with only minimal damage to the gray matter (Gaffan & Hornak 1997).

References

• Michel Thiebaut de Schotten, Marika Urbanski, Hugues Duffau, Emmanuelle Volle, Richard Lévy, Bruno Dubois, and Paolo Bartolomeo: Direct Evidence for a Parietal-Frontal Pathway Subserving Spatial Awareness in Humans Science 30 September 2005: 2226-2228