Author:

Keywords:

C14/21/046#56286706, G0H7718N#54643138

Abstract:

Following unilateral stroke, patients suffer from various deficits which consequently have a negative impact on rehabilitation and overall quality of life. One such highly prevalent deficit is hemispatial neglect, which is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by an inability to orient, perceive and interact with stimuli contralateral to the lesioned hemisphere. In clinical practice, hemispatial neglect is typically assessed with neuropsychological tests such as conventional paper-and-pencil tests. However, current tests lack sensitivity, specificity, and test-retest reliability. New technologies such as immersive Virtual Reality (iVR) may help overcome these limitations and offer new insights in this impairing condition. An advantage of iVR tools over conventional tests is that it allows for dynamic measures more closely resembling patients’ daily-life functioning. Therefore, we investigated the added value of an iVR tool in the assessment of hemispatial neglect by comparing an assessment using iVR with conventional paper-and-pencil tests, computerized tests and clinical judgement. Our results confirm that paper-and-pencil tests lack sensitivity in detecting subtle deficits related to hemispatial neglect. Furthermore, our results suggest a potential marker for hemispatial neglect measured during the iVR assessment, i.e. an ipsilesional deviation in patients’ head orientation. To conclude, future research is still highly needed to confirm the added value of new technologies such as iVR in the assessment of hemispatial neglect.