Spatial Neglect After Stroke Clinical Trial
Official title:
Influence of Prism Adaptation on Spatial Neglect in the Early Versus Delayed Phase After Stroke: a Randomized, Placebo-controlled Trial
'Unilateral neglect' is a disorder that occurs regularly after stroke. It is caused by right- as well as left-sided brain lesions, but more often by right-sided lesions. Patients with this disorder neglect the contralesional side of space and/or their body. Their body axis is often shifted ipsilesionally. A specific disorder that can appear in neglect patients is 'contraversive pushing': a postural deviation to the neglected side because the patient pushes himself away from the ipsi- to the contralesional side. One of the most promising neglect interventions is prism adaptation (PA): inducing an optical shift of the visual field by means of prism glasses. This results in a modulation of brain areas involved in neglect and in an improvement of the neglect symptoms and postural deviation. Research questions: 1. Which period is best suited to maximize therapeutic effects? In this respect the effects of early and delayed PA will be compared, regarding neglect-, postural and cerebral measures. 2. Which factors lead to a less favorable treatment outcome or to therapy resistance for PA? 3. Will the impact of PA be larger if postural factors are taken into account in the prism therapy?
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