From the Research
Occipito-parietal lesions typically cause a combination of visual and spatial processing deficits, including visual field defects, visual agnosia, and difficulties with visual-spatial processing, as reported in a study published in 2014 1. The symptoms of occipito-parietal lesions can vary depending on the exact location and extent of the lesion.
- Common symptoms include:
- Visual field defects such as homonymous hemianopia (blindness in half the visual field)
- Visual agnosia (inability to recognize objects despite intact vision)
- Difficulties with visual-spatial processing
- Problems with depth perception, spatial orientation, and navigation in familiar environments
- Balint's syndrome, characterized by simultanagnosia (inability to perceive the visual field as a whole), optic ataxia (difficulty reaching for objects under visual guidance), and ocular apraxia (inability to direct gaze)
- Patients may also experience reading difficulties (alexia), particularly with left-sided lesions, and hemispatial neglect, where patients ignore or are unaware of the left side of space, with right-sided lesions 2. The specific constellation of symptoms depends on the exact location and extent of the lesion, with bilateral lesions typically causing more severe deficits than unilateral ones.
- A more recent study published in 2023 3 highlights a rare presentation of posterior cerebral artery stroke with palinopsia and cerebral dyschromatopsia, emphasizing the importance of prompt diagnosis and treatment.
- Another study published in 2013 4 suggests that hemianoptic complications after occipital transtentorial surgery can recover via inferior quadrantanopia or scotomatous defect, and are attributable to injury to the optic radiation as well as the occipital lobe. However, the most recent and highest quality study 3 prioritizes the importance of prompt diagnosis and treatment of occipito-parietal lesions, and highlights the need for further research into the pathophysiology and treatment of these lesions.