Visuospatial neglect after a stroke most commonly results from damage to which hemisphere?

• A. Right hemisphere damage
• B. Left hemisphere damage
• C. Bilateral damage
• D. Brainstem injury

Answer: (A)

Visuospatial neglect is an attentional problem, not just a sensory one, and it most often arises from damage to the right hemisphere, especially the right parietal region. The right hemisphere plays a dominant role in spatial attention and can direct awareness to both sides of space. When it’s damaged, attention to the left side is lost or markedly reduced, leading to left-sided neglect. Damage to the left hemisphere can cause language problems and sometimes right-side neglect, but left neglect is far less common because the right hemisphere continues to support attention to the left space. Bilateral damage can produce neglect too, but is less typical, and brainstem injury typically doesn’t produce classic visuospatial neglect.