The "Altitudinal Anton's syndrome": Coexistence of anosognosia, blindsight and left inattention

Issue title: Primary Progressive Aphasia and Post-Stroke Aphasia: Some Complementary Insights into Brain-Behavior Relationships/Hemispatial Neglect and Related Disorders

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Carota, A. | Bianchini, F.^; | Pizzamiglio, L.^; | Calabrese, P.

Affiliations: Neurocenter GSMN, Genolier Clinic, Genolier, Switzerland | Department of Psychology, University of Rome La Sapienza, Rome, Italy | Neuropsychological Laboratory, IRCSS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy | Faculty of Cognitive Psychology, University of Basel, Switzerland

Note: [] Correspondent author: Dr. Antonio Carota, %Neurocenter GSMN, Genolier Clinic, Genolier, Switzerland Via Crodolo 22. CH-6614. Switzerland. Tel.: +41 78 7046562; Fax: +41 91 7868687; E-mail: a.carota@bluewin.ch

Abstract: We describe a 69-year-old patient with superior altitudinal hemianopia who contentiously denied having any visual impairment after stroke in the lower banks of both calcarine fissures. Although the patient did not produce intentional responses to visual stimuli in the blind fields, he showed reduced reaction times to stimuli presented in the inferior visual fields when they were primed by identical stimuli in the superior blind fields. Furthermore he showed left extinction to the double stimulation and delayed reaction times for left unprimed stimuli in the inferior fields. Based on these findings we discuss the possibility that blindsight and right hemisphere damage might be both necessary conditions for denying bilateral blindness.

Keywords: Cortical blindness, altitudinal hemianopia, anosognosia, attention blindsight, right hemisphere damage

DOI: 10.3233/BEN-2012-110224

Journal: Behavioural Neurology, vol. 26, no. 1-2, pp. 157-163, 2013