Testing cognition and rehabilitation in unilateral neglect with wedge prism adaptation: multiple interplays between sensorimotor adaptation and spatial cognition

Spatial neglect is a neurological condition characterised by deficits for perceiving, attending, representing, and/or performing actions within their left-sided space, responsible for numerous debilitating effects in everyday life, for poor functional recovery, and for decreased ability to benefit from treatment. Exposure to a right lateral displacement of the visual field (induced by a simple target-pointing task with base-left wedge prisms) is known to directionally bias visuomotor coordination and can be compensated by both sensorimotor adaptation and cognitive processes. Sensorimotor adaptation gives rise to after-effects whose duration is amplified in neglect patients and has been repe…

Pseudoneglect in schizophrenia: A line bisection study with cueing

Numerous authors have reported the existence of lateralised abnormalities towards the right side in patients with schizophrenia.In the present study, a manual line bisection task was used to assess the existence of a visuospatial bias in patients with schizophrenia as compared to healthy subjects and left unilateral neglect patients. In addition, we used a local cueing paradigm (consisting of a number placed on the right, on the left, or at both ends of the line).Healthy subjects showed a leftwards trend in the "no cue" condition (known as pseudoneglect) and neglect patients showed a right bias in all cue conditions. In contrast, patients with schizophrenia placed their manual estimation of…

White Book on Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine in Europe. Introductions, Executive Summary, and Methodology

The White Book (WB) of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (PRM) in Europe is produced by the 4 European PRM Bodies (European Academy of Rehabilitation Medicine - EARM, European Society of PRM - ESPRM, European Union of Medical Specialists - PRM Section, European College of PRM-ECPRM served by the European Union of Medical Specialists-PRM Board) and constitutes the reference book for PRM physicians in Europe. It has now reached its third edition; the first was published in 1989 and the second in 2006/2007. The WB has multiple purposes, including providing a unifying framework for European countries, to inform decision-makers on European and national level, to offer educational material for…

Effects of 6 months functional electrical stimulation rowing training in spinal cord injury patients.

Long-term sensorimotor and therapeutical effects of a mild regime of prism adaptation in spatial neglect

International audience; Spatial neglect (SN) is commonly associated with poor functional outcome. Adaptation to a rightward optical deviation of vision has been shown to benefit to SN rehabilitation. The neurophysiological foundations and the optimal modalities of prism adaptation (PA) therapy however remain to be validated. This study is aimed at exploring the long-term sensory-motor, cognitive and functional effects produced by weekly PA sessions over a period of four weeks. A double-blind, monocentric randomized and controlled trial (RCT) was carried out. Twenty patients with left SN secondary to stroke were included, 10 in the “prism” group and 10 in the “control” group. The sensory-mot…

Effets sensori-moteurs et fonctionnels à long terme d’un traitement hebdomadaire par adaptation prismatique dans la négligence : un essai randomisé et contrôlé en double insu

RésuméLa négligence spatiale (NS) constitue un facteur de mauvais pronostic fonctionnel. L’adaptation à une déviation prismatique de la vision vers la droite améliore la NS. Les bases neurophysiologiques et les modalités optimales de l’adaptation prismatique (AP) restent à valider. Cette étude vise à explorer les effets sensori-moteurs, cognitifs et fonctionnels à long terme produits par une séance d’AP hebdomadaire pendant 4 semaines. Un essai monocentrique, en double insu, randomisé et contrôlé a été réalisé. Vingt patients avec NS gauche secondaire à un accident vasculaire cérébral droit ont été inclus (10 dans le groupe « prisme » et 10 dans le groupe « témoin »). Les effets sensori-mot…

Enhancing Visuomotor Adaptation by Reducing Error Signals: Single-step (Aware) versus Multiple-step (Unaware) Exposure to Wedge Prisms

Abstract Neglect patients exhibit both a lack of awareness for the spatial distortions imposed during visuomanual prism adaptation procedures, and exaggerated postadaptation negative after-effects. To better understand this unexpected adaptive capacity in brain-lesioned patients, we investigated the contribution of awareness for the optical shift to the development of prism adaptation. The lack of awareness found in neglect was simulated in a multiple-step group where healthy subjects remained unaware of the optical deviation because of its progressive stepwise increase from 2° to 10°. We contrasted this method with the classical single-step group in which subjects were aware of the visual …