Caloric vestibular stimulation (CVS) can temporarily reduce visuospatial neglect and related symptoms. The present study examined the effect of CVS on representational neglect during free exploration of the map of France. We asked patients to name cities they could mentally "see" on the map of France, without giving them any directional instructions related to the left or right sides of the map. In right brain damaged patients with left visuospatial neglect, the mental representation of the map was asymmetrical (favoring the right side). After stimulation, neglect patients named more towns on the left side of the map, leading to a significant reduction in map representation asymmetry. Our findings are consistent with previous studies on visuospatial neglect and are in favor of a central effect of vestibular stimulation on mechanisms involved in space representation.
Keywords: hemineglect; hemispatial neglect; mental representation; representation neglect; unilateral spatial neglect; vestibular stimulation.