Dopaminergic stimulation in unilateral neglect
- aDepartment of Psychology, University of Turin, and Istituto Nazionale Neurologico C Besta, Milan, Italy, bDivisione di Neurologia, Ospedale Niguarda, Milan, Italy, and MRC Cyclotron Unit, Hammersmith Hospital, London, UK, cDivisione di Neurologia, Ospedale Niguarda, Milan, Italy
- Dr Giuliano Geminiani, Istituto Nazionale Neurologico C Besta, via Celoria 11, 20133 Milano, Italy.
- Received 2 January 1996
- Revised 13 February 1998
- Accepted 24 February 1998
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To explore the hypothesis that dopaminergic circuits play a part in the premotor components of the unilateral neglect syndrome, the effects of acute dopaminergic stimulation in patients with neglect were studied.
METHODS Two tasks were evaluated before and after subcutaneous administration of apomorphine and placebo: a circle crossing test and a test of target exploration (a modified version of the bell test), performed both in perceptual (counting) and in perceptual-motor (pointing) conditions.
SUBJECTS Four patients with left neglect.
RESULTS After dopaminergic stimulation, a significant improvement was found compared with placebo administration and baseline evaluation, in the performance of the two tests. Three of the patients had a more marked improvement in the perceptual-motor condition (pointing) of the task than the perceptual condition (counting).
CONCLUSIONS The findings suggest that dopaminergic neuronal networks may mediate, in different ways, both perceptive and premotor components of the unilateral neglect syndrome.
