IMR Press / FBL / Volume 8 / Issue 5 / DOI: 10.2741/1143

Frontiers in Bioscience-Landmark (FBL) is published by IMR Press from Volume 26 Issue 5 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.

Article
Visuospatial dysfunction in the neurodegenerative diseases
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1 Department of Neurology, University of Virginia, PO Box 800394, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA
Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2003, 8(5), 428–436; https://doi.org/10.2741/1143
Published: 1 September 2003
Abstract

Visuospatial dysfunction is not generally considered a cardinal feature of the common neurodegenerative disorders of late life like Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), and Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). However, a large number of research studies have shown visually related disorders to be surprisingly pervasive among these disease states. Broader recognition of the problems is hindered by a complex literature, which suffers from a lack of uniform definitions of what constitutes "visuospatial" dysfunction and few commonly accepted theoretical models for interpreting results. The interface between visual-spatial function and other variably-defined constructs such as attention and executive function further complicates experimental approaches to this construct. Nonetheless, this review addresses both theoretical and practical issues regarding the presence, importance, and correlates of visual dysfunction associated with neurodegeneration. In addition, the functional impact of the deficits is addressed.

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