The neurologist explained the phenomenon of ignoring one half of the space

One of the amazing phenomena in neurology is the syndrome of ignoring half of the space, in which the patient ceases to perceive the left half of the world. Ekaterina Demyanovskaya, an expert at the Hemotest laboratory and a neurologist, told Izvestia on August 12 what is the danger of this condition.

"In neurological practice, a condition is known when patients, after damage to the right hemisphere of the brain, cease to perceive the left half of the surrounding space. However, they often do not realize the problem, which greatly complicates diagnosis and rehabilitation," she explained.

The mechanism of this disorder is related to the peculiarities of the brain. The right hemisphere is responsible for paying attention to the entire surrounding space, while the left hemisphere mainly processes information from the right side. When the right hemisphere is damaged as a result of a stroke, traumatic brain injury, or a tumor process, this delicate balance is disrupted. This condition is most often caused by lesions of the right parietal or frontal lobe, although similar symptoms can occur in some neurodegenerative diseases affecting subcortical structures.

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In clinical practice, according to the doctor, this manifests itself in a very characteristic way. Patients can eat food only on the right side of the plate, shave exclusively on the right side of the face, or draw only the right side of the image. It is noteworthy that if you specifically draw their attention to the missing details, they recognize the existence of the left side, but after a short time they forget about it again. This is not related to vision problems: patients' eyes capture the whole picture, but the brain refuses to process information from the left half of space.

"Such a disorder rarely exists in isolation, in most cases it is accompanied by other neurological disorders. Constructive apraxia is often observed, in which a person cannot assemble a whole from parts, or optical ataxia, which is manifested by the fact that a person misses when trying to take an object," Demyanovskaya said.

The emotional sphere, she says, is also suffering. Many patients become apathetic, do not show the full range of emotions, stop smiling and gesticulating, and their voice is often monotonous when talking. More than half of the patients demonstrate anosognosia — denial of their own disease.

Neurologists use special test techniques to diagnose this condition. One of the most revealing is the task of drawing a clock face. People with one-sided spatial neglect syndrome place all the numbers in its right half. Another common test is to cross out the lines on a piece of paper. People with the syndrome systematically skip the lines on the left side. It is also informative to observe how a person searches for objects in a room — whether he ignores the left side.

The neurologist clarified that modern approaches to rehabilitation include various techniques. Special prism glasses that artificially shift the field of vision, as well as visual-spatial training, show good results. One of the promising developments in recent years is called mirror therapy, during which optical illusions are used to restore the perception of space.

"The timing of the start of rehabilitation is very important. The greatest effectiveness can be achieved when treatment begins in the first three months after the onset of the disorder. However, even in this case, full recovery is relatively rare: most patients learn to adapt to their condition, but do not get rid of it completely," the specialist added.

There are practical recommendations for the relatives of such patients. At the first stages, it is important to place significant objects on the right side of the patient's field of vision, but gradually, as they adapt, shift them to the center. This approach allows you to gently train attention and helps restore spatial perception.

On August 2, Demyanovskaya told Izvestia that olfactory hallucinations are one of the symptoms of epilepsy, but they can also be a sign of other diseases. She noted that approximately 15% of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy initially go to the doctor complaining of sudden strange odors that precede typical epileptic seizures.

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