Now you see it, now you don't: Variable hemineglect in a commissurotomized man

Abstract

We describe the case of a callosotomized man, D.D.V., who shows unusual neglect of stimuli in the left visual field (LVF). This is manifest in simple reaction time (RT) to stimuli flashed in the LVF and in judging whether pairs of filled circles in the LVF are of the same or different color. It may reflect strong left-hemispheric control and consequent attention restricted to the right side of space. It is not evident in simple RT when there are continuous markers in the visual fields to indicate the locations of the stimuli. In this condition, his RTs are actually faster to LVF than to right visual field (RVF) stimuli, suggesting a switch to right-hemispheric control that eliminates the hemineglect. Neglect is also not evident when D.D.V. responds by pointing to or touching the locations of the stimuli, perhaps because these responses are controlled by the dorsal rather than the ventral visual system. Despite his atypical manifestations of hemineglect, D.D.V. showed evidence of functional disconnection typical of split-brained subjects, including prolonged crossed–uncrossed different in simple reaction time, inability to match colors between visual fields, and enhanced redundancy gain in simple RT to bilateral stimuli even when the stimulus in the LVF was neglected.