SUSTAINED ATTENTION AND AWARENESS OF DISABILITY IN CHRONIC NEGLECT

The possible causative role of defective sustained attention and aware ness of disability on the persistence of neglect was explored. The stu dy included stroke patients who had had moderate or severe neglect 1-5 years before the start of the present examination. Questionnaire resp onses showed that the patients were aware of their disability. Impaire d sustained attention was associated with poor performance in two out of three tests most sensitive in detecting neglect. This, together wit h indications of compensation on neglect tests, is interpretated as pr oviding support for the hypothesis that chronic neglect is related to an impaired sustained attention. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science L td