Visual deficits in a patient with `kaleidoscopic disintegration of the visual world

• Published in: European journal of neurology Vol. 9; no. 5; pp. 463 - 477
• Main Authors: Vaina, L. M., Cowey, A., LeMay, M., Bienfang, D. C., Kikinis, R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford UK Blackwell Science Ltd 01.09.2002
• Subjects: Adrenalectomy - adverse effects; Cerebral Infarction - complications; Cerebral Infarction - pathology; Cerebral Infarction - physiopathology; depth perception; Female; Humans; magnetic resonance imaging; Middle Aged; motion perception; Motion Perception - physiology; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local - surgery; Neuropsychological Tests; Pattern Recognition, Visual - physiology; Pituitary Neoplasms - pathology; Pituitary Neoplasms - physiopathology; Pituitary Neoplasms - surgery; Postoperative Complications - pathology; Postoperative Complications - physiopathology; Psychomotor Performance - physiology; simultagnosia; Space Perception - physiology; stroke; Stroke - complications; Stroke - pathology; Stroke - physiopathology; Temporal Lobe - blood supply; Temporal Lobe - pathology; Temporal Lobe - physiopathology; Vision Disorders - etiology; Vision Disorders - pathology; Vision Disorders - physiopathology; Visual Cortex - blood supply; Visual Cortex - pathology; Visual Cortex - physiopathology; Visual Fields - physiology; Visual Pathways - blood supply; Visual Pathways - pathology; Visual Pathways - physiopathology
• ISSN: 1351-5101; 1468-1331
• DOI: 10.1046/j.1468-1331.2002.00435.x

We describe psychophysical, neuropsychological and neuro‐ophthalmological studies of visual abilities in a patient who, following a right hemisphere stroke, had difficulty in combining parts of objects into a whole and in reading. Strikingly, her perceptual problems were accentuated when the objects moved or when she moved. Formal testing showed that her main deficits were in depth perception, various tasks of motion and object recognition of degraded stimuli. But low‐level detection and discrimination of form and color were normal. Despite her deficits in visual motion and degraded static‐object recognition, her visual recognition of `biological motion' stimuli was normal. Structural magnetic resonance imaging revealed an infarct in the ventro‐medial occipito‐temporal region, extending ventro‐laterally and leading to a `kaleidoscopic disintegration of visible objects'.