Rehabilitation Glasses for the Treatment of Hemispatial Neglect

Rehabilitation Glasses for the Treatment of Hemispatial Neglect

This project is designed to test a lightweight, portable, computerized pair of glasses that will help reduce some of the cognitive deficits seen in patients who have suffered damage to their right cerebral hemisphere.

Hemispatial neglect is the inability or failure to attend and respond to the left side of space. Patients suffering right cerebral hemispheric damage from stroke or traumatic brain injury frequently suffer neglect and will ignore all information located in the left side of space. Currently there is no effective rehabilitation technique to treat neglect and many of these patients have severe long-term disability. The goal of this project is to determine whether a prototypical pair of rehabilitation glasses can reduce the symptoms of hemispatial neglect.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Presence of hemispatial neglect as defined by Behavioral Inattention Test score of 129 or worse (maximum score 146).

Exclusion Criteria:

• Presence of aphasia at time of testing,
• Recent seizures
• Major psychiatric illness
• Prior unrelated neurological disease