Background: Neglect syndrome is a serious condition that often affects the ability to perform visual-spatial search tasks, interfering with the ability to detect stimuli on the left side of space. A number of factors can affect the success of visual search in patients with neglect syndrome, including visual field load. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the number of stimuli in the right visual hemifield influences the efficiency of visual search in the left (neglected) hemifield, hypothesizing that an increased object load on the right side may impair search performance on the left.
Methods: The sample comprised 30 patients with neglect syndrome as the target group and 20 patients with right hemisphere damage but no signs of hemispatial neglect as the control group. This study employed several neuropsychological tests, including neuropsychological examination according to the scheme of A.R. Luria. The SPSS 23.0 software was used for statistical analysis of the data.
Results: The Red Shapes test revealed a significant decrease in the number of stimuli detected in both the right and left visual hemifields across successive series (p < 0.001) in patients within the target group. No significant differences were observed in the participants of the control group. This study's results may be explained by the phenomenon of SSM (subsequent search misses) and the theory of attentional resource depletion during visual search tasks. These results indicate the need for further research into the features of visual search under various conditions, including the load and structuredness of the visual field.
Conclusions: This study confirmed that the number of elements in the right visual hemifield influences the ability to detect elements in the left hemifield in patients with left-sided neglect, as demonstrated using the Red Shapes test.
Keywords: neglect syndrome; stroke; subsequent search misses; top-down and bottom-up approach; visuospatial search.