Pusher syndrome: its cortical correlate

Abstract

Unilateral stroke can lead to a disorder of postural balance that manifests as a pushing away toward the contralesional side. It is called “pusher syndrome” (PS). The aims of this study were first to assess the anatomical cortical regions that induce PS and second to clarify whether tilt of the subjective visual vertical (SVV)—a sign of vestibular otolith dysfunction—is associated with PS. Sixty-six patients with acute unilateral strokes (28 left-sided lesions, 38 right-sided lesions) were tested for PS, for tilts of the SVV, for hemineglect and for the anatomical lesion site by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based voxelwise lesion-behavior mapping analysis. Our data indicated no significant voxels; however, there was a trend towards an association between lesions of the posterior part of the insula, the operculum and the superior temporal gyrus—key areas of the multisensory vestibular cortical network—and the extent of pushing in patients with right-sided lesions, whereas the rather anterior part of the insula, the operculum as well as the internal capsule reaching to the lateral thalamus seemed to be involved in PS in left-sided lesion patients. These data might point toward a link between the systems responsible for postural control and for processing vestibular otolith information. These findings indicate that vestibular information might be fundamental in right-sided lesion patients for maintaining body posture in space.