Neglect Treatment by Prism Adaptation in the Acute Phase

Neglect Treatment by Prism Adaptation in the Acute Phase

This project aims at unveiling the beneficial effects of prism adaptation as early rehabilitation technique to treat unilateral spatial neglect in the acute phase after a brain damage. This syndrome, frequent and very invalidating for daily life activities after a brain damage, is a cognitive disorder of lack of attention towards a part of the space. Patients at a first event brain injury hospitalized into the Neurology and Neurosurgery Departments and affected by spatial neglect will undergo to a protocol of five consecutive rehabilitation treatments, being assigned to the experimental (prisms) or control groups (neutral prisms). The effectiveness of the treatment will be assessed with cognitive, functional and motor-related measures, as well as a follow up 3 months later. These results can have a strong impact on the long-term functional outcome of these patients.

Inclusion Criteria:

• First neurological event, affecting the right hemisphere or the left hemisphere (stroke, brain tumour post-surgery);
• Structural images of the brain lesion available (magnetic resonance or tomographic scans);
• Good Normal (or corrected) visual acuity;
• Presence of USN, as assessed by a standard neuropsychological evaluation.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Previous neurological disorder and/or current or previous psychiatric disease.
• Presence or suspicion of previous general cognitive deficits documented from the clinical dossier and/or suspicious of possible cognitive deficits ;
• Presence of difficulty in task's comprehension preventing its completion;
• Impossibility to sustain a research session of at least 30 minutes (e.g., attentional lability).