Article

Unilateral spatial neglect (USN) is a highly prevalent and disabling
poststroke impairment.
USN is traditionally assessed with paper-and-pencil tests
that lack ecological validity, generalization to real-life situations and are
easily compensated for in chronic stages. Virtual reality (VR) can, however,
counteract these limitations. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to examine the feasibility of a
novel assessment of USN symptoms in a functional shopping activity, the Ecological VR-based Evaluation of Neglect Symptoms (EVENS).
METHODS: EVENS is
immersive and consists of simple and complex 3-dimensional scenes depicting
grocery shopping shelves, where joystick-based object detection and navigation
tasks are performed while seated. Effects of virtual scene complexity on
navigational and detection abilities in patients with (USN+, n = 12) and without
(USN-, n = 15) USN following a right hemisphere stroke and in age-matched healthy
controls (HC, n = 9) were determined. RESULTS: Longer detection times, larger
mediolateral deviations from ideal paths and longer navigation times were found
in USN+ versus USN- and HC groups, particularly in the complex scene. EVENS
detected lateralized and nonlateralized USN-related deficits, performance
alterations that were dependent or independent of USN severity, and performance
alterations in 3 USN- subjects versus HC. CONCLUSION: EVENS' environmental
changing complexity, along with the functional tasks of far space detection and
navigation can potentially be clinically relevant and warrant further empirical
investigation. Findings are discussed in terms of attentional models, lateralized
versus nonlateralized deficits in USN, and tasks-specific mechanisms.

Langue : ANGLAIS