Lesions Responsible for Impaired Visual Perception in Poststroke Patients Using Voxel-Based Lesion Symptom Mapping

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Clinical Anatomy
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Visual perception (VP) is crucial for daily functioning.
• Stroke can lead to cognitive and perceptual deficits, including impaired VP.
• Understanding the neural correlates of VP deficits post-stroke is essential for targeted rehabilitation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify clinical characteristics affecting visual perception after stroke.
• To determine specific lesion locations correlated with impaired visual perception.
• To confirm the role of the right hemisphere in visual perception using neuroimaging.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of 61 stroke patients.
• Assessment of visual perception using a motor-free VP test.
• Regression analyses to identify predictors of impaired VP.
• Voxel-based lesion symptom mapping (VLSM) to correlate lesion location with VP deficits.

Main Results:

• Right hemispheric lesions were significantly associated with lower VP function.
• Impaired VP was predicted by cognitive function, age, lesion volume, and right hemispheric location.
• VLSM identified lesion patterns predominantly in the right parietal lobe and deep white matter.
• These findings were consistent even after adjusting for age, lesion volume, and cognitive status.

Conclusions:

• Visual perception is significantly influenced by age, lesion volume, and cognitive impairment in stroke patients.
• Lesions in the right parietal lobe and deep white matter are critically associated with impaired visual perception.
• Voxel-based lesion symptom mapping confirms right hemispheric dominance for visual perception post-stroke.