Modulation of Visuospatial Awareness During Multi-tasking in Right Hemisphere Stroke Patients: Towards Novel Behavioural and Neurofunctional Predictors of Impairments and Recovery of the Attentional Networks

Many stroke survivors who have suffered right brain damage show spatial neglect (SN), a deficit of spatial attention orienting that causes unawareness for stimuli located in the left hemispace. Recent data show that the execution of concurrent tasks (that is, multitasking) can worsen the clinical condition and impact functional recovery.

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of an adaptive computer game "Labyrinth" previously validated on health population. The videogame is designed for training both attention and execution functions as it engages spatial navigation and multitasking. The effect of the computer game will be compared to standard computerized exercises used for neglect rehabilitation.

The investigators plan to administer to a sample of 30 stroke patients with SN both Labyrinth and standard trainings for 10 sessions each. The two trainings will be delivered in a randomized crossover design. Improvements of patients' performance will be registered across trainings and in a follow-up test at 1 month, by assessing the severity of SN and functional everyday outcomes. The investigators expect that patients' performance will improve following both types of training, but with stronger improvement for the adaptive videogame.