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Updated: Feb 1, 2026

Modeling the Functional Network for Spatial Navigation in the Human Brain
Published on: October 13, 2023
Ventral attention and motor network connectivity is relevant to functional impairment in spatial neglect after right
A M Barrett1, Olga Boukrina2, Soha Saleh2
1Kessler Foundation, 1199 Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange, NJ 07052, USA; Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ 07102, USA; Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation, 1199 Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange, NJ 07052, USA.
Abstract:
Emerging research suggests spatial neglect after right stroke is linked to dysfunctional attention and motor networks. Advanced functional connectivity analysis clarified brain network recovery, however we need to know how networks participate in adaptive motor performance. We need to verify network changes associated with validated functional measures and spatial-motor performance in spatial neglect, especially in patients with large brain lesions and significant disability. This study tested whether disability-relevant spatial neglect associates with different patterns of resting state functional connectivity between motor, dorsal and ventral attention networks (MN, DAN and VAN). Right stroke patients had spatial neglect (n = 8) or not (n = 10) on the Behavioural Inattention Test-conventional. Spatial neglect patients had weaker intranetwork VAN connectivity, and reduced internetwork connectivity between VAN and left frontal eye field (DAN), and between VAN and the left primary motor area (MN). These network impairments might explain the co-occurrence of attention and motor deficits in spatial neglect, and open a path to assessing functional connectivity in clinical trials of combined spatial retraining and motor rehabilitation after stroke.
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