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Visual neglect in the first weeks after a stroke in the right hemisphere
Astri J Lundervold1, Nina Bergmann, Christel Wootton
1Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, University of Bergen, Norway. Astri.Lundervold@psych.uib.no
Scandinavian Journal of Psychology
|April 22, 2005
Summary
Patients surviving right hemisphere strokes often experience visual neglect symptoms. While standard tests show improvement, subtle reaction-time measures reveal persistent visual extinction, indicating a need for further study.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Clinical Psychology
Background:
- Visual neglect is a common consequence of right hemisphere (RH) stroke.
- Understanding the temporal evolution of these symptoms is crucial for patient recovery.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize visual neglect symptoms post-RH stroke.
- To investigate symptom changes in the initial months following RH stroke.
- To identify subtle, persistent symptoms using reaction-time measures.
Main Methods:
- Assessed 13 RH stroke patients and 20 controls using standard neglect tests.
- Conducted follow-up assessments over four months for five patients.
- Utilized reaction-time (RT) measures from a cue-target paradigm to detect subtle symptoms.
Main Results:
- High frequency of neglect symptoms observed initially.
- Significant inter- and intra-individual variability in symptom changes during early weeks.
- Standard tests showed high remission rates, but RT measures revealed sustained visual extinction in all followed patients.
Conclusions:
- Visual neglect is prevalent after RH stroke, with variable early recovery.
- Subtle visual extinction symptoms may persist despite apparent recovery on standard tests.
- Further longitudinal studies with larger cohorts are warranted to understand long-term implications.