Feasibility of multisensory stimulation to improve visual detection in stroke patients with hemispatial neglect

Completed

Conditions: hemi-spatial neglect
visual neglect
10029305

Registration Number: NL-OMON42471

Lead Sponsor: Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen

Brief Summary: Not available

Detailed Description: Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: Completed

Sex: Not specified

Target Recruitment: 20

Inclusion Criteria

• Men/women of 18 < age < 75 years.
• Presence of hemispatial neglect following stroke.
• Written informed consent after being fully informed about any possible discomfort they might experience during participation.
• Normal or corrected-to-normal visual acuity.
• Participants have a sufficient condition to sit in a chair for three hours, and are able to follow an hour of therapy without any problems.

Exclusion Criteria

• Severe visual impairments (Diabetic retinopathy, cataracts) .
• Visual-field defects (e.g., Hemianopia).
• History of psychiatric disorders or substance abuse.
• Severe cognitive impairments (MMSE<18).

Study & Design

Study Type: Observational non invasive

Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
<p>The main objective of this study is to assess the functional efficacy of<br /><br>multisensory stimulation (i.e., visuo-tactile cues), on the ability of<br /><br>hemispatial neglect patients to detect sensory stimuli presented on the<br /><br>neglected hemispace. To this purpose, we will compare the performance of<br /><br>patients in detecting sensory stimuli presented in the neglected hemispace<br /><br>under two different conditions that differ from each other by the properties of<br /><br>the sensory stimuli; 1) unisensory (i.e., only visual stimuli or only tactile<br /><br>stimuli) , 2) multisensory (i.e., synchronous visuo-tactile stimulation). We<br /><br>predict that synchronous visuo-tactile signals will facilitate the patients*<br /><br>intrinsic ability to voluntarily control attention towards the sensory stimuli<br /><br>in the neglected hemispace allowing them to be consciously processed. </p><br>

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
<p>To provide behavioral evidence for our future studies in which we will test<br /><br>whether multisensory stimulation can be applied as an effective intervention<br /><br>for stroke patients with hemispatial neglect. We predict that the<br /><br>multisensory rehabilitation tools will enhance the connectivity between damaged<br /><br>areas of the parietal cortex and nodes in the multisensory and voluntary<br /><br>attentional control networks (frontal eye fields, posterior parietal cortex and<br /><br>occipital-temporal areas).</p><br>