CH 5 right hemisphere and communication, visuoperceptual deficits following damage

Normal Right Hemisphere Function

Nonlinguistic elements of communication, math/visuospatial skills, assembles small details for perception of a larger picture

Nonlinguistic elements of communication

Prosody, Facial expression, Body language, Emotion

Math/Visuospatial Skills

Perception of depth, distance, shapes; Localizing targets in space; Identifying figure-ground relationships; Processes melody of music

The Right Hemisphere's Role in Communication

powerful nonlinguistic cues processed in right hemisphere are necessary for social pragmatic communication abilities

Right Hemisphere Disorder

Group of deficits or changes that may occur following insult to a person's right cerebral hemisphere, Usually not involved with language-related deficits

Any etiology that damages right hemisphere

Stroke, Disease, Trauma, Seizure disorders, Infection, Toxicity; Level of deficit or disorder depends on the location and extent of damage

Communication Deficits manifest themselves in

the realm of pragmatics

Areas of deficit which affect communication include (realm of pragmatics)

Facial recognition, comprehension of facial expressions, production of facial expressions, comprehension of prosody, production of prosody, inference, discourse

Facial recognition

Ability to process visual information of facial features and spatial relationships, ability to recognize faces is important in discriminating familiar.non-familiar faces

Visual agnosia

Ability to process visual information of facial features and spatial relationships is a refined skill that can be lost

Prosopagnosia

difficulty with the brain but unable to recognize faces; can still recognize objects; may recognize people by voice, smell, clothing, or other distinctive features

Comprehension of facial expressions

Right hemisphere allows us to evaluate facial expressions, may be used to reinforce or alter the meaning of verbal utterances

Production of facial expressions

Right hemisphere controls the left side of the face

Comprehension of prosody deficit

Individuals with right hemisphere disorder may have difficulties processing prosodic components of speech

Production of prosody deficit

Difficulty using prosody to express emotion; Individuals with right hemisphere deficits may seem monotone and emotionless, though they still possess the full range of emotions

Inferencing

Ability to take previous knowledge and experience and apply it effectively to the interpretation of small details given in a situation

Discourse

The exchange of communicative information from speaker to Listener

Most common discourse deficits in those with right hemisphere deficits include

Lack of sensitivity to shared knowledge, Difficulties with turn-taking, Difficulties with topic maintenance

Visuoperceptual Deficits

Simultagnosia, Cerebral achromatopsia

Simultagnosia

Inability to visually perceive multiple details at one time, often due to lesion at parietal-occipital area (Pick up object, recognize features, but cannot recognize the object as a whole)

Cerebral achromatopsia

Rare loss of color vision due to trauma or damage to the cortex (Individual only sees the world in shades of gray)