School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Feil-Oberfeld Research Centre, Jewish Rehabilitation Hospital, Site of Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation of Greater Montreal, Laval, Quebec, Canada.
Neuropsychol Rehabil. 2020 Mar;30(2):207-232. doi: 10.1080/09602011.2018.1454328. Epub 2018 Apr 3.
Unilateral spatial neglect (USN), a highly prevalent and disabling post-stroke deficit, severely affects functional mobility. Visual perceptual abilities (VPAs) are essential in activities involving mobility. However, whether and to what extent post-stroke USN affects VPAs and how they contribute to mobility impairments remains unclear.
To estimate the extent to which VPAs in left and right visual hemispaces are (1) affected in post-stroke USN; and (2) contribute to goal-directed locomotion.
Individuals with (USN+, = 15) and without (USN-, = 15) post-stroke USN and healthy controls (HC, = 15) completed (1) psychophysical evaluation of contrast sensitivity, optic flow direction and coherence, and shape discrimination; and (2) goal-directed locomotion tasks.
Higher discrimination thresholds were found for all VPAs in the USN+ group compared to USN- and HC groups (< 0.05). Psychophysical tests showed high sensitivity in detecting deficits in individuals with a history of USN or with no USN on traditional assessments, and were found to be significantly correlated with goal-directed locomotor impairments.
Deficits in VPAs may account for the functional difficulties experienced by individuals with post-stroke USN. Psychophysical tests used in the present study offer important advantages and can be implemented to enhance USN diagnostics and rehabilitation.
单侧空间忽略（USN）是一种高发性且致残性的卒中后缺陷，严重影响了患者的功能移动能力。视觉感知能力（VPAs）在涉及移动的活动中至关重要。然而，卒中后 USN 是否以及在何种程度上影响 VPAs，以及它们如何导致移动障碍仍不清楚。
评估左、右视觉半球的 VPAs 在以下两个方面受到的影响：（1）卒中后 USN；（2）目标导向的运动。
本研究纳入了 15 名卒中后 USN 患者（USN+）、15 名无 USN 的卒中患者（USN-）和 15 名健康对照者（HC）。参与者接受了以下两项测试：（1）对比敏感度、光流方向和连贯性、形状辨别力的心理物理学评估；（2）目标导向的运动任务。
与 USN-和 HC 组相比，USN+组的所有 VPAs 的辨别阈值均较高（P＜0.05）。心理物理学测试在检测有或无 USN 病史的个体的缺陷方面具有较高的敏感性，并且与目标导向的运动障碍显著相关。
VPAs 的缺陷可能导致卒中后 USN 患者出现功能困难。本研究中使用的心理物理学测试具有重要优势，可以用于增强 USN 的诊断和康复。
