NCT02419222

Feasibility of Using Prism Adaptation to Treat Spatial Neglect and Motor Function in Stroke

Feasibility of Using Prism Adaptation to Treat Spatial Neglect and Motor Function in Stroke Survivors With Multiple Lesions

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 30 (actual)
• Sponsor: Kessler Foundation · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 90 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

This research project is a study designed to address both motor and cognitive changes after stroke. Treatment for SN is elusive however there is support for prism adaptation treatment (PAT). Therapists need to know more about the effects of this treatment and if it is feasible in a group of stroke survivors with multiple lesions because these are the patients they are treating in the clinical setting. Also, it has not been investigated that using PAT to remediate SN will then as a result increase spontaneous UE movement of the weak limb.

Detailed description

This research project is a study designed to address both motor and cognitive changes after stroke, two common stroke disabilities. For example: two third of patients reported loss of upper limb function as a major problem after stroke and spatial neglect occurs in more than 350,000 US right hemisphere stroke survivors annually. These two impairments if not treated, lead to immediate impairment in basic life activities, long term functional disability, increased risk for falls and increased healthcare costs. The literature displays many strong research studies that trialed the use of multiple treatment approaches to remediate spatial neglect, including prism adaptation treatment (PAT), resulting in positive results. Similar findings result for treatment studies that attempt to remediate the upper extremity (UE). However, in all group of patients that were tested in these studies (both for spatial neglect and UE dysfunction) only had one stroke and past medical histories that were unremarkable. Rehabilitation professionals help clients that have had all types of strokes achieve improved quality of life by helping to increase independence by remediating impairment. In addition, these professionals need to know more about the effects of PAT in stroke survivors with multiple lesions because these are patients commonly being treated in the clinical setting. Also, it has not been investigated whether using PAT, a very promising and easy to administer treatment, to remediate spatial neglect will also increase spontaneous UE movement of the limb affected by the stroke because of an influence on motor-intentional aiming errors. Thus, in this pilot research proposal, the researcher intends to first investigate the feasibility of this two week treatment on stroke survivors that have had multiple lesions and second verify if PAT will improve spatial neglect and jointly increase spontaneous movement of the UE.

Conditions

• Stroke

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Prism Adaptation	PAT uses wedged prism lenses to displace the entire visual field horizontally to the left or right (depending on the orientation of the base of the prism). The left-base prism lenses (thicker on the left) shift the entire visual field to the right. The result is a curving reaching trajectory, aiming toward the image location (right to the actual location) and then corrected toward the actual location. After several reaching movement, the coordinates of motor and visual systems are aligned, which in other words, is that the motor output adapts to the visual input, and thus the reaching trajectory is straight ahead to the object. This visually-guided goal-oriented movement is essential in PAT.

Timeline

• Start date: 2015-01-01
• Primary completion: 2016-12-01
• Completion: 2016-12-01
• First posted: 2015-04-17
• Last updated: 2017-08-21

Locations

2 sites across 1 country: United States