ABSTRACT
Over the past ten years, there has been a dramatic increase in neuropsychological research concerned with understanding visual object recognition in general, and the role of visual attention in object recognition in particular. One reason for this increase has been the development of more fully specified theories of visual object recognition and attention than hitherto, plus also the parallel development of neurophysiological research dealing with the properties of visual processing in the brain. Surprisingly perhaps, prior to this more recent expansion of work, there had been few attempts to discuss neuropsychological disturbances of vision in terms of theories of vision and attention, and little discussion of patients who might have been informative for vision theories, apart from the early classic studies carried out at the beginnings of modern neuropsychology. Poppelreuter’s report of his patient, Merk, is one such early case that highlights the importance of the interaction between visual attention and recognition for everyday life. The complexity of this case also illustrates the importance of having wellarticulated theories in order to understand the interrelated patterns of disturbance that can arise after damage to the visual recognition-attention system.
