Affiliations: Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale, Università
di Padova, Italy | Department of Psychology, University of Melbourne,
Australia | Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University
of London, UK
Note: [] Corresponding author: Umberto Castiello, Dipartimento di
Psicologia Generale, Università di Padova, Via Venezia, 8, 35131,
Padova, Italy. E-mail: umberto.castiello@unipd.it
Abstract: Purpose: 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. Methods: 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. Results: 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. Conclusions: 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.
Keywords: Visual neglect, rehabilitation, virtual reality, reach-to-grasp, space remapping
