Check for inattention. Does the patient neglect the body’s left side, the left side of the room, or the left side of a picture? Check for extinction by double simultaneous tactile or visual stimulation (touch both of the patient’s hands at once and ask which was touched; have the patient identify fingers presented simultaneously in left and right visual fields). The right parietal cortex is important in directing attention to the left side of visual space.

Check for denial or “lack of concern.” Does the patient say there is nothing wrong, despite having a hemiplegia, or does the patient show a lack of concern? Sometimes, a patient will identify the patient’s left hand as belonging to someone else or as the examiner’s hand when it is lifted into view. These are elements of anosognosia (the denial of a neurologic deficit). Such a denial is common in right parietal lesions.