Virtual reality applications for the remapping of space in neglect patients

The aims of the present article were the following: (i) to provide some evidence of the potential of virtual reality (VR) for the assessment, training and recovery of hemispatial neglect; (ii) to present data from our laboratory which seem to confirm that the clinical manifestation of neglect can be improved by using VR techniques; and (iii) to ascertain the neural bases of this improvement.

We used a VR device (DataGlove) interfaced with a specially designed computer program which allowed neglect patients to reach and grasp a real object while simultaneously observing the grasping of a virtual object located within a virtual environment by a virtual hand. The virtual hand was commanded in real time by their real hand.

After a period of training, hemispatial neglect patients coded the visual stimuli within the neglected space in an identical fashion as those presented within the preserved portions of space. However it was also found that only patients with lesions that spared the inferior parietal/superior temporal regions were able to benefit from the virtual reality training.

It was concluded that using VR it is possible to re-create links between the affected and the nonaffected space in neglect patients. Furthermore, that specific regions may play a crucial role in the recovery of space that underlies the improvement of neglect patients when trained with virtual reality. The implications of these results for determining the neural bases of a higher order attentional and/or spatial representation, and for the treatment of patients with unilateral neglect are discussed.