Left-right confusion in psychiatric, neurodevelopmental and neurological disorders: A systematic review

Left-right confusion is common in healthy individuals, but increased prevalence has been reported in several psychiatric, neurodevelopmental, and neurological disorders. The present systematic review aimed to identify disorders in which the prevalence of left-right confusion is higher than in the ge...

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Main Authors: Moritz Thaler, Sebastian Ocklenburg
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-09-01
Series:Brain Research Bulletin
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0361923025002473
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author Moritz Thaler
Sebastian Ocklenburg
author_facet Moritz Thaler
Sebastian Ocklenburg
author_sort Moritz Thaler
collection DOAJ
description Left-right confusion is common in healthy individuals, but increased prevalence has been reported in several psychiatric, neurodevelopmental, and neurological disorders. The present systematic review aimed to identify disorders in which the prevalence of left-right confusion is higher than in the general population. For this purpose, a systematic review following PRISMA guidelines was conducted using the databases Google Scholar, PubMed, and Mendeley. A total of 20 quantitative case-control studies were included. Lesions in parietal brain areas and damage to temporal-parietal-occipital brain areas because of Alzheimer's disease were associated with severe impairments in left-right orientation. Furthermore, evidence for developmental impairments in direction assignment was provided by studies on developmental topographical disorientation (DTD). These DTD-related impairments are associated with low functional connectivity between the hippocampus and the right prefrontal cortex. Individuals with DTD show significantly poorer performance in direction discrimination compared to healthy subjects. In addition, the review highlights that, despite previous research, there remains a substantial need for further studies and for the development of a uniform definition and operationalization of left-right confusion in clinical populations.
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spelling doaj-art-ae1bc74ce8394b408b84bf153c2e24e22025-08-20T02:49:21ZengElsevierBrain Research Bulletin1873-27472025-09-0122911143510.1016/j.brainresbull.2025.111435Left-right confusion in psychiatric, neurodevelopmental and neurological disorders: A systematic reviewMoritz Thaler0Sebastian Ocklenburg1Department of Psychology, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany; ISPP Institute for Safety of Patients and Health Professionals MSH Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany; Correspondence to: Department of Psychology, Medical School Hamburg, Am Kaiserkai 1, Hamburg 20457, Germany.Department of Psychology, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany; ICAN Institute for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany; Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Biopsychology, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany; ISPP Institute for Safety of Patients and Health Professionals MSH Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, GermanyLeft-right confusion is common in healthy individuals, but increased prevalence has been reported in several psychiatric, neurodevelopmental, and neurological disorders. The present systematic review aimed to identify disorders in which the prevalence of left-right confusion is higher than in the general population. For this purpose, a systematic review following PRISMA guidelines was conducted using the databases Google Scholar, PubMed, and Mendeley. A total of 20 quantitative case-control studies were included. Lesions in parietal brain areas and damage to temporal-parietal-occipital brain areas because of Alzheimer's disease were associated with severe impairments in left-right orientation. Furthermore, evidence for developmental impairments in direction assignment was provided by studies on developmental topographical disorientation (DTD). These DTD-related impairments are associated with low functional connectivity between the hippocampus and the right prefrontal cortex. Individuals with DTD show significantly poorer performance in direction discrimination compared to healthy subjects. In addition, the review highlights that, despite previous research, there remains a substantial need for further studies and for the development of a uniform definition and operationalization of left-right confusion in clinical populations.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0361923025002473Left-right confusionSystematic reviewLeft-right discriminationPathologiesPRISMA guidelinesGyrus angularis
spellingShingle Moritz Thaler
Sebastian Ocklenburg
Left-right confusion in psychiatric, neurodevelopmental and neurological disorders: A systematic review
Brain Research Bulletin
Left-right confusion
Systematic review
Left-right discrimination
Pathologies
PRISMA guidelines
Gyrus angularis
title Left-right confusion in psychiatric, neurodevelopmental and neurological disorders: A systematic review
title_full Left-right confusion in psychiatric, neurodevelopmental and neurological disorders: A systematic review
title_fullStr Left-right confusion in psychiatric, neurodevelopmental and neurological disorders: A systematic review
title_full_unstemmed Left-right confusion in psychiatric, neurodevelopmental and neurological disorders: A systematic review
title_short Left-right confusion in psychiatric, neurodevelopmental and neurological disorders: A systematic review
title_sort left right confusion in psychiatric neurodevelopmental and neurological disorders a systematic review
topic Left-right confusion
Systematic review
Left-right discrimination
Pathologies
PRISMA guidelines
Gyrus angularis
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0361923025002473
work_keys_str_mv AT moritzthaler leftrightconfusioninpsychiatricneurodevelopmentalandneurologicaldisordersasystematicreview
AT sebastianocklenburg leftrightconfusioninpsychiatricneurodevelopmentalandneurologicaldisordersasystematicreview