Alzheimer’s patients do not show left unilateral spatial neglect but exhibit peripheral inattention and simplification

The Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (RCFT) is widely used to measure visuoperceptual and visuoconstructional skills, while the Line Bisection (LB) test is commonly employed to assess unilateral spatial neglect (USN). Previous studies have suggested that Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients may suffer from left USN. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to clarify whether left USN occurs in AD. METHODS: Forty controls, 40 very mild AD patients and 31 mild/moderate AD patients performed both the RCFT copying and the LB test. RESULTS: The very mild AD and mild/moderate AD groups had lower total RCFT copying scores and also scored lower in the “left” and “detail” categories compared to controls. However, there were no correlations between the left-category score for RCFT and the LB score. Instead, peripheral inattention and simplification patterns were noted. CONCLUSIONS: We found that the RCFT copying test is effective for detecting early AD and suggest that AD patients manifest peripheral inattention and simplification but not left USN.