Brain : a journal of neurology
-
The traditional association between anosognosia for hemiplegia and the right hemisphere was investigated in 31 patients with unilateral temporal lobe pathology during intracarotid sodium amytal testing (ISA) before epilepsy surgery. Recall of arm weakness was examined by questioning at the end of the test, when memory for items presented during the hemiplegia was also examined. Significantly more patients were amnesic for left arm weakness than for right. ⋯ By inference from the generally unimpaired recall of right arm weakness, following left hemisphere inactivation by amytal, an intact right hemisphere is capable of both recognizing right arm weakness and mediating its subsequent recall. In contrast, the left hemisphere was aware of left arm weakness only in approximately 50% of cases and even when there had been awareness usually could not mediate its subsequent recall. The suggestion is made that the right hemisphere may have a specific mnestic function for arm weakness, and presumably for hemiplegia, additional to the gnostic function.