publicationsSpatial neglect is a debilitating neurocognitive disorder frequently occurring after a stroke with unilateral brain damage. About 50% of right-brain-damaged stroke survivors and about 20% of left-brain-damaged stroke survivors present with spatial neglect. This disorder is manifested with a failure to attend to, perceive, and/or respond to stimuli presented on the contralesional side of personal (body parts or on the body surface), peri-personal (within arm’s reach) and extra-personal spaces (beyond arm’s reach). Individuals with spatial neglect may also fail to generate or maintain a normal representation of the contralesional side of mental images. Therefore, neglect patients with right-brain damage may not notice their left limb hanging from the side of their wheelchair, may forget personal belongings to the left of their current position, may fail to dress themselves appropriately on the left side, may care relatively less about their appearance on the left side, may show gaze preference to the right side, may demonstrate slowed or no reaction to sudden noises from the left, may ignore food on the left side of the plate, and/or may collide with furniture or a wall on the left side. Unfortunately, stroke survivors with spatial neglect are more likely to stay hospitalized longer, fall and have wheelchair accidents more often, and are less likely to become independent after stroke than those without spatial neglect.
The Network for Spatial Neglect is an initiative developed by Dr. A. M. Barrett, Dr. Peii Chen, Ms. Kimberly Hreha, and Ms. Robin Hedeman, first presented in the 2011 annual conference of the American Society for Neurorehabilitation (ASNR). We aim to advocate for the need for accurate detection of spatial neglect, for direct translation of research to practices, and for effective treatments specifically tailored to a brain-based spatial neglect profile. Currently, we are inviting research collaborators to our first multi-site research project “Functional Assessments of Spatial Neglect”. If you would like to know more about the functional assessment that we use and the related journal articles, please provide us with your information on the "nsn application" page (click the link on the left). That information will function as an application to obtain the login for downloading the material.
Adair, J. C., & Barrett, A. M. (2008). Spatial Neglect: Clinical and Neuroscience Review A Wealth of Information on the Poverty of Spatial Attention. Year in Neurology 2008, 1142, 21-43.
Barrett, A. M., & Burkholder, S. (2006). Monocular patching in subjects with right-hemisphere stroke affects perceptual-attentional bias. Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, 43(3), 337-345.
Barrett, A. M., Buxbaum, L. J., Coslett, H. B., Edwards, E., Heilman, K. M., Hillis, A. E., . . . Robertson, I. H. (2006). Cognitive rehabilitation interventions for neglect and related disorders: Moving from bench to bedside in stroke patients. Journal Of Cognitive Neuroscience, 18(7), 1223-1236.
Fortis, P., Chen, P., Goedert, K. M., & Barrett, A. M. (2011). Effects of prism adaptation on motor-intentional spatial bias in neglect. Neuroreport, 22(14), 700-705.
Fortis, P., Goedert, K. M., & Barrett, A. M. (2011). Prism adaptation differently affects motor-intentional and perceptual-attentional biases in healthy individuals. Neuropsychologia, 49(9), 2718-2727.
Fortis, P., Maravita, A., Gallucci, M., Ronchi, R., Grassi, E., Senna, I., . . . Vallar, G. (2010). Rehabilitating patients with left spatial neglect by prism exposure during a visuomotor activity. Neuropsychology, 24(6), 681-697.
Goedert, K., Chen, P., Botticello, A., Masmela, J. R., Adler, U., & Barrett, A. M. (2012). Psychometric evaluation of neglect assessment reveals motor-exploratory predictor of functional disability in acute-stage spatial neglect. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 93, 137-142.
Goedert, K. M., Leblanc, A., Tsai, S. W., & Barrett, A. M. (2010). Asymmetrical effects of adaptation to left- and right-shifting prisms depends on pre-existing attentional biases. Journal Of The International Neuropsychological Society, 16(5), 795-804.
Hreha, K., Eller, M., & Barrett, A. M. (2010). Treating post-stroke spatial neglect: Establishing a clinical research-clinical partnership program. ADVANCE for Occupational Therapy Practitioners, 26(7), 16.
