V. S. Rachmanadran argues that studying patients with anosognosia (Anton-Babynski syndrome) - that is patients who, following a stroke in the right hemisphere develop paralysis in the right side of the body, but deny that this is the case - will offer an experimental bridge to understanding Freudian defensive systems such as denial, repression and reaction formation. His suggestion is that the left hemisphere is invested in maintaining a coherent belief system and will typically deny small anomalies that do not fit within the belief system. The right parietal lobe has a role in noticing inconsistencies when they become significant enough and raising this into awareness. If this part of the brain is offline there is nothing to inhibit the left hemisphere's propensity to construct reality in a way that strictly fits with its previous beliefs. 

This lecture was delivered at the The 5th Neuro-Psychoanalysis Congress, Rome 2004 on "Splitting, Denial and Narcissism: Neuropsychoanalytic Perspectives on the Right Hemisphere."