ABSTRACT

The visual disturbances of stroke can be explained organically, in terms of damage to the pathways carrying light sensations from the eye to the cortex (Figure 4.4), but sometimes the organic explanations are conjectural or incomplete. Stroke-related disorders of vision have therefore afforded fertile ground for speculation about the nature of our knowledge of the external world (Miller and Hou, 2004). At a practical level, it is probably useful to look for specific disabilities because an accurate diagnosis can result in reassuring the patient that the disabilities are limited, and can help in planning treatment. In some cases, the most effective treatment of a disorder of perception may be psychological rather than medical, even in the presence of an infarct compatible with a neuro-ophthalmic entity.