Valenstein E
Geriatrics. 1976 Nov;31(11):111-7.
Knowing the special function of each half of the brain is important to the clinician. If he doesn't understand what damage to the nondominant hemisphere can do, he may mistake the resulting syndrome for a psychiatric illness or generalized dementia, and the patient won't get proper treatment and counseling. The tendency is to think of dominance in terms of language, but other functions are asymmetrically located even though their input and output are bilateral. Generally, lesions in the left hemisphere cause problems with language and those in the right disrupt visual and spatial skills, attention, and emotional behavior. By far the most common syndrome in right hemisphere lesions is neglect of the left side. A patient may show lack of concern about his illness or he may deny that he is sick or even that the left side of his body belongs to him. Patients with left hemisphere lesions may neglect the right side but rarely to this extreme.
了解大脑每一半球的特殊功能对临床医生很重要。如果他不明白非优势半球受损会产生什么后果，他可能会将由此产生的综合征误诊为精神疾病或全身性痴呆，而患者也无法得到恰当的治疗和咨询。人们往往倾向于从语言方面来考虑优势半球，但其他功能虽然其输入和输出是双侧性的，但其位置却是不对称的。一般来说，左半球的损伤会导致语言问题，而右半球的损伤则会破坏视觉和空间技能、注意力以及情感行为。到目前为止，右半球损伤最常见的综合征是对左侧的忽视。患者可能对自己的病情漠不关心，或者可能否认自己生病，甚至否认自己身体的左侧属于自己。左半球损伤的患者可能会忽视右侧，但很少会到这种程度。
