Right Temporal-Lobe Damage

TLDR

Milner’s work shows that right temporal lobe lesions impair some visual tasks, indicating a role in rapid nonverbal visual identification, but the deficits are not universal across all visual tests. The study aims to further investigate the visual deficits associated with right temporal lobe damage. The study examined subjects with right temporal lobe lesions. Patients with right temporal lobe damage were specifically impaired on the McGill Picture Anomalies and Triangular Blocks tests, unlike other lesion groups.

Abstract

Milner has reported that lesions of the right temporal lobe impair performance on certain visual tests, whereas lesions of the left temporal lobe do not. In a comprehensive comparison of patients with damage to the temporal, frontal, and parietal areas the right temporal group was found to be impaired on a Triangular Blocks test⁸and on a complex pictorial task, the McGill Picture Anomalies.⁹The deficit on the McGill Picture Anomalies was specific to the right temporal group. Milner suggested that these deficits are related to the nonverbal functions of the right hemisphere and concluded that "the right temporal lobe aids in rapid visual identification."⁹The nature of this facilitation has remained a problem, since lesions of the right temporal lobe do not impair performance on all visual tests nor exclusively on visual tests. The present study was designed to investigate this visual deficit further. <h3>Subjects</h3> The