Visuospatial Defects Research Articles

Smart Health System to Detect Dementia Disorders Using Virtual Reality.

Smart health technology includes physical sensors, intelligent sensors, and output advice to help monitor patients’ health and adjust their behavior. Virtual reality (VR) plays an increasingly larger role to improve health outcomes, being used in a variety of medical specialties including robotic surgery, diagnosis of some difficult diseases, and virtual reality pain distraction for severe burn patients. Smart VR health technology acts as a decision support system in the diseases diagnostic test of patients as they perform real world tasks in virtual reality (e.g., navigation). In this study, a non-invasive, cognitive computerized test based on 3D virtual environments for detecting the main symptoms of dementia (memory loss, visuospatial defects, and spatial navigation) is proposed. In a recent study, the system was tested on 115 real patients of which thirty had a dementia, sixty-five were cognitively healthy, and twenty had a mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The performance of the VR system was compared with Mini-Cog test, where the latter is used to measure cognitive impaired patients in the traditional diagnosis system at the clinic. It was observed that visuospatial and memory recall scores in both clinical diagnosis and VR system of dementia patients were less than those of MCI patients, and the scores of MCI patients were less than those of the control group. Furthermore, there is a perfect agreement between the standard methods in functional evaluation and navigational ability in our system where P-value in weighted Kappa statistic= 100% and between Mini-Cog-clinical diagnosis vs. VR scores where P-value in weighted Kappa statistic= 93%.

Integrating visual search, eye movement training and reversing prism exposure in the treatment of Balint-Holmes syndrome: a single case report

ABSTRACT Objective For the first time, we administered reversing prism exposure to treat optic ataxia in a single patient with Balint-Holmes Syndrome (BHS), who also underwent specific trainings for simultanagnosia and ocular apraxia. Method and Results By an introduction and withdrawal experimental design, we observed that the active treatment periods improved patient’s visuospatial defects and functional autonomy. Conclusions We thus provided a proof of principle supporting the use of reversing prism exposure in optic ataxia within an integrated and personalized rehabilitative approach for BHS.

Numeric input operation on electronic devices among individuals with visuospatial working memory impairment

ABSTRACT In human–computer interactions, higher-level visuospatial function is likely needed to effectively use the interface. The aim of this study is to clarify whether individuals with visuospatial defects can use electronic devices effectively. We quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed the ability of seven individuals with Bálint syndrome and seven individuals with left-unilateral spatial neglect (USN) to input a digit sequence into a flat touch interface. Control groups consisted of seven individuals with memory deficits and 11 healthy individuals. Participants with Bálint syndrome took longer and had more hesitations than the USN group and the two control groups to input numerical sequences (Steel-Dwass test, p < .01). In addition, participants with Bálint syndrome had a high percentage of hesitations for exploration of the button array on the interface relative to USN and the memory deficit group (Fisher’s exact test, p < .05). Regarding neuropsychological data, participants with Bálint syndrome had a lower score for visuospatial working memory than participants with USN and the memory deficits control group (Steel-Dwass test, p < .01). The results shed some light on the relation between visuospatial working memory deficits and the spatial perception of interface layouts and spatial control during electronic device operation.

Stroke-like Migraine Attacks after Radiation Therapy Syndrome.

Objective:To summarize the clinical presentation, pathogenesis, neuroimaging, treatment, and outcome of stroke-like migraine attacks after radiation therapy (SMART) syndrome, and to propose diagnostic criteria for this disorder.Data Sources:We searched the PubMed database for articles in English published from 1995 to 2015 using the terms of “stroke-like AND migraine AND radiation.” Reference lists of the identified articles and reviews were used to retrieve additional articles.Study Selection:Data and articles related to late-onset effects of cerebral radiation were selected and reviewed.Results:SMART is a rare condition that involves complex migraines with focal neurologic deficits following cranial irradiation for central nervous system malignancies. The recovery, which ranges from hours to days to weeks, can be partial or complete. We propose the following diagnostic criteria for SMART: (1) Remote history of therapeutic external beam cranial irradiation for malignancy; (2) prolonged, reversible clinical manifestations mostly years after irradiation, which may include migraine, seizures, hemiparesis, hemisensory deficits, visuospatial defect, aphasia, confusion and so on; (3) reversible, transient, unilateral cortical gadolinium enhancement correlative abnormal T2 and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery signal of the affected cerebral region; (4) eventual complete or partial recovery, the length of duration of recovery ranging from hours to days to weeks; (5) no evidence of residual or recurrent tumor; (6) not attributable to another disease. To date, no specific treatment has been identified for this syndrome.Conclusions:SMART is an extremely rare delayed complication of brain irradiation. However, improvements in cancer survival rates have resulted in a rise in its frequency. Hence, awareness and recognition of the syndrome is important to make a rapid diagnosis and avoid aggressive interventions such as brain biopsy and cerebral angiography.

Reduced visuospatial performance in children with the D2 dopamine receptor A1 allele.

Previous studies suggest a reduced dopaminergic function in subjects with the A1 (minor) allele of the D2 dopamine receptor (DRD2) gene. To explore influences on visuospatial ability as a function of the DRD2 gene, 182 alcohol- and other drug-naive sons (age 10-14) of active alcoholic, recovered alcoholic, and nonalcoholic fathers were administered a visuospatial task (Benton's Judgment of Line Orientation Test) which makes minimal motoric/verbal demands. Visuospatial scores were lower for boys with the A1 allele and for sons of active alcoholics. A1-allele boys made more errors than A2 boys on all 11 of the template lines, with the effect being largest for the rightmost presentations. In contrast, the effect of family history for alcoholism was strongest on both right and left midquadrant presentations. Moreover, separate analyses of the two types of errors produced allele but not family history of alcoholism effects when the two lines were misjudged as farther apart than they actually were and family history but not allele effects where the two lines were misjudged as closer together. These results suggest that polymorphism of the DRD2 gene and family history of alcoholism are dissociable determinants of visuospatial ability and that visuospatial defects previously observed in alcoholics may, in part, be antecedent to their drinking behavior.

Spatial acalculia.

Twenty-one patients with right hemisphere damage were studied (11 men, 10 women; average age = 41.33; range 19-65). Patients were divided into two groups: pre-Rolandic (six patients) and retro-Rolandic (15 patients) right hemisphere damage. A special calculation test was given. Different types of calculation errors were analyzed. Spatial alexia and agraphia for numbers, loss of calculation automatisms, reasoning errors, and general spatial defects interfering with normal number writing and reading, were observed. Number processing was impaired, whereas the calculation system was partially preserved. Fact retrieval and procedural difficulties were observed, but arithmetical rules were properly used. It is concluded that calculation abilities in right hemisphere damaged patients are disrupted as a result of: (1) visuospatial defects that interfere with the spatial arrangement of numbers and the mechanical aspects of mathematical operations: (2) inability to recall mathematical facts and appropriately to use them; and (3) inability to normally conceptualize quantities and process numbers.

Visuospatial Ability, Accuracy of Size Estimation, and Bulimic Disturbance in a Noneating-Disordered College Sample: A Neuropsychological Analysis

The relationship between visuospatial ability and size accuracy in perception was assessed in 69 normal college females. In general, correlations indicated small associations between visuospatial defects and size overestimation and little relationship between visuospatial ability and level of bulimic disturbance. Implications for research on the size overestimation of body image are addressed.

VISUOSPATIAL ABILITY, ACCURACY OF SIZE ESTIMATION, AND BULIMIC DISTURBANCE IN A NONEATING-DISORDERED COLLEGE SAMPLE: A NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS

The relationship between visuospatial ability and size accuracy in perception was assessed in 69 normal college females. In general, correlations indicated small associations between visuospatial defects and size overestimation and little relationship between visuospatial ability and level of bulimic disturbance. Implications for research on the size overestimation of body image are addressed.

Cognitive loss and recovery in long-term alcohol abusers.

The nature of the memory and visuospatial defects associated with chronic alcoholism, and the recovery of these functions, were investigated in a large group of alcoholic men and well-matched nonalcoholic controls. Both young and old alcoholics displayed significant impairments on tasks requiring the learning of novel associations and the holding of information in memory over longer delay intervals. The recovery of cognitive skills was found to depend on the length of abstinence and the particular behavioral functions examined. Whereas psychomotor skills and short-term memory improved significantly with prolonged abstinence, long-term memory was impaired even after seven years of continuous sobriety. We propose that recovery of short-term memory reflects reestablishment of cortical functioning, while the persistent long-term memory defect indicates more permanent damage to diencephalic structures.