Cognitive rehabilitation of the hemineglect disorder in chronic patients with unilateral right brain damage.
Thirteen patients with a stabilized hemineglect symptomatology due to right-hemisphere lesions were subjected to a rehabilitation training specifically aimed at reducing the scanning deficit. The training consisted of four procedures (visual-spatial scanning, reading and copying training, copying of line drawings on a dot matrix, and figure description) which lasted 40 sessions. By the end of therapy, the patients as a group showed significant improvements on several standard tests of hemineglect. The results on a Semi-structured Scale for the Functional Evaluation of Hemineglect pointed to the extension of exploratory improvements to situations similar to those of daily life. In contrast, patients improved very slightly on a variety of standard visual-spatial tests, indicating the specificity of training in reducing the scanning defect. Seven patients were examined at a follow-up several months after the end of therapy and appeared stable on both standard and functional tests of neglect.
Pizzamiglio
L
L
Department of Psychology, University of Rome La Sapienza, Roma, Italy.
Antonucci
G
G
Judica
A
A
Montenero
P
P
Razzano
C
C
Zoccolotti
P
P
D000368:Aged; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006423:Hemianopsia / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006429:Hemiplegia / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology