View clinical trials related to Perceptual Disorders.
Filter by:Brain functions are supported by multiple cell types, including neuronal and non-neuronal cells that are connected into complex networks. When the connectivity between those cells is altered or disrupted, the functioning of the brain is impaired. In stroke, the interruption of blood supply to the neural circuits results in connectivity damage and permanent disabilities. Experimental evidence suggests that some types of brain state, including sleep, can protect brain tissue from stroke and "repair" the damaged circuits. This project will investigate the neuronal mechanism underlying the protective effect of sleep on brain connectivity and network activity. To this end, the investigators will use a collection of state-of-the-art technologies including high-density electroencephalography (hd-EEG), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS). Perspectives include a better understanding of the causes and consequences of the perturbed electrical activity of the brain during sleep in stroke patients.
The presented study investigates standardized visual cueing in reading and visual spatial task as a treatment method for spatial neglect. In a randomized controlled design patients receive either cued reading and visual spatial tasks (intervention) or treatment which is unspecific to neglect (control). In the intervention condition, patients with left-sided neglect receive intense training, including reading and visual spatial task with standardized and adapted visual cueing by the therapist. Improvements in reading and visual spatial tasks lead to a reduction of cues by the therapist. Accordingly, the patient has to apply self-cueing over time in order to solve the task. For the control condition, all patients receive unspecific treatment without any standardized adapted cueing implemented by the therapist. To enhance the effectivity of cueing in reading and visual spatial tasks, the investigators additionally conduct parietal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in those patients without tDCS exclusion criteria (see exclusion criteria below). It is hypothesised that systematic and adaptive therapeutic cueing leads to a significant reduction of omissions of word and word parts in reading. UPDATE: No Add-on tDCS was performed since it was not applicable for our severly impaired patients due to the strict exclusion criteria of tDCS.
The purpose of this study is to examine measurement of unilateral neglect post stroke. Although a number of clinical assessments are used to measure neglect, it is unclear whether items from some of the most commonly used assessments are able to effectively and comprehensively measure neglect. This study will determine whether these assessments measure different aspects of neglect and whether items from various neglect assessments can be combined to more effectively measure neglect.
Investigators hypothesize, based on anecdotal evidence to date, that active music making interventions conducted on a patient's neglected side will result in improved attention to that side and that this will be measurable within session.
The purpose of this study is to test the effects of three different rehabilitation training sessions that combine non-invasive brain stimulation (transcranial direct current stimulation, tDCS) with arm rehabilitation training (repetitive task-specific practice, RTP) for individuals with unilateral spatial neglect following stroke. This study is designed to determine the effects of tDCS + RTP on the excitability in the brain, attention to the affected side, and arm movement ability.
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.
Purpose: A research project will be conducted at the ADD ("Attention Deficit Disorder") Centre and Biofeedback Institute of Toronto to evaluate the feasibility of the Listening Project Protocol (LPP) intervention in individuals with difficulties with autonomic and/or behavioral regulation. The LPP is designed as a "neural exercise" to reduce auditory hypersensitivities, to improve auditory processing of speech, and to improve behavioral state regulation. These improvements should translate into increase feelings of safety and calmness, thereby promoting improvement in social behavior. Participants: 30 participants, males and females between ages 7-55 years, will be recruited for the study. Participants will be patients at the ADD Centre and Biofeedback Institute of Toronto. Procedures: Participants will be divided into 1 of 2 groups (1:1 ratio). Both groups will have a pre-intervention assessment #2, intervention, 1 week post intervention assessment and 1 month post intervention assessment. Group 2 will have an additional pre-intervention assessment session #1 (1 week previous to pre-intervention assessment #2) to assess the stability of the measures prior to starting the intervention. Pre-, post-, and 1 month followup assessment will include parent and/or self-report questionnaires, and measures of the individual's auditory processing ("SCAN"), affect recognition ("DARE" Dynamic Affect Recognition Evaluation), heart rate, prosody, "RSA" respiratory sinus arrhythmia (derived from non-invasive ECG recording), and middle ear transfer function ("MESAS" - Middle Ear Sound Absorption System).
Spatial neglect is a common attention disorder after right hemisphere stroke and is associated with decreased independence and quality of life. Despite its high prevalence in the stroke population, there is currently no standard of care for the treatment of neglect. Prism adaptation (PA) is a promising rehabilitation technique, however incorporation into clinical care has been limited likely due to the lack of standardized procedures. The investigators have developed a computerized PA technique designed to better engage patients and assist clinicians. In this study the investigators aim to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of the computerized PA procedure in a typical health care setting, with the hypothesis that the PA procedure will improve patient's neglect symptoms.
Purpose: Stroke is a common cause of death and disability in Canada. Injury to the right hemisphere of the brain and the parietal cortex in particular, is common and results in a disorder known as 'neglect' in 40% to 95% of patients. These patients fail to attend to or respond to events occurring in left space; the disorder is devastating for the patient and their caregivers with the patient becoming dependent on assistance for most activities of daily life (ADLs). The project will implement two visual working memory (VWM) training programs to explore the influence of VWM training on neglect symptoms as well as activities of daily life. Hypothesis: It is hypothesised that SWM training protocols will lead to improvements of neglect symptoms as well as improvement in ADLs. The project will develop a novel rehabilitation strategy for treating the neglect syndrome. Evidence from research in healthy participants employing video games to improve cognition along with research using working memory training protocols showing a broad range of benefits accruing to both trained and untrained tasks, suggests that the investigators approach has great potential to improve the core deficits of the neglect syndrome. Thus, WM training represents a promising avenue for rehabilitating neglect patients who demonstrate core deficits in both spatial attention and VWM to be highly interrelated functions.
Neurological pathologies cause important and permanent disabilities in every day life. These pathologies can follow stoke, affecting two people per one thousand each year or cerebral palsy, affecting two births per one thousand each year. To date, the diagnosis and the rehabilitation of motor and cognitive problems has been carried out separately by different domains. For example, physiotherapists have focused on motor problems and neuropsychologists have focused on cognitive functions. However, a number of studies have demonstrated a link between motor and cognitive abilities in adults and children. The present study has three main aims: (1) to better evaluate motor and cognitive problems in brain damaged patients (all ages), (2) to understand the link between motor and cognitive abilities in patients and healthy participants and, (3) to propose new types of therapies based on the link between motor and cognitive functions.