Abstract
This study was designed to determine whether the performance of the test for left unilateral spatial neglect is improved by increasing the exteral affirmation. Conventional sub-tests included in the Behavioural inattention test were performed in 21 patients with unilateral spatial neglect. Whenever the patients completed the test, they were instructed to try affirmation once again, and if there was any error, to correct it with a red ball-point pen. The result was that, although affirmation had no effect on neglect of the left side of a single objects, such as line bisection or figure and shape copying, the number of letter cancellations and star cancellations significantly increased after affirmation. The above findings suggest that repeated affirmation may reduce neglect in terms of targets requiring a wide range of spatial explorarion. Promotion of affirmation behavior appears to be a means of reducing neglect in the rehabilitation setting of left unilateral spatial neglect.
