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Hemianopic Alexia

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Abstract

Hemianopic alexia is the most peripheral of the alexias and also the most common. It is caused by a hemianopia that mildly interferes with single-word reading but has its main impact on upon text reading. This is because the visuomotor system is robbed of visual information away from the point of fixation that it requires in order to plan efficient reading eye movements. Herein we discuss the anatomy of the visual system, including how the visual word is represented in primary visual cortex, and why the most common cause of a hemianopia is a posterior cerebral artery infarct. We cover visual field assessment and the pattern of inefficient eye movements made when patients with hemianopic alexia read text. In the second half, we provide a detailed critical review of the main therapeutic approaches including visual restoration (blindsight and conscious vision) and eye-movement-based methods.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK

    Alexander Leff MBBS, BSc, PhD, FRCP

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Randi Starrfelt MSc Psych, PhD

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  1. Alexander Leff MBBS, BSc, PhD, FRCP
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  2. Randi Starrfelt MSc Psych, PhD
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© 2014 Springer-Verlag London

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Leff, A., Starrfelt, R. (2014). Hemianopic Alexia. In: Alexia. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-5529-4_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-5529-4_2

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