Immersive Virtual Reality Treatment for Unilateral Spatial Neglect

The patient has to circle 35 bells placed on an A4 sheet between distractors. The number of total and lateralized omissions is examined. The minimum value corresponds to the absence of omissions and the maximum value corresponds to the total number of stimuli (35 bells) or the number of lateralized stimuli (15 bells in each hemifield). Specifically, if the total number of omissions is greater than 6, or the difference in omissions between the two sides of the sheet is greater than 2, the patient is considered deficient.

The patient has to cross out a target stimulus (the letter A) among other distracting letters arranged on a sheet of A4 paper.

The number of total and lateralized omissions on each side of the sheet is analyzed. A maximum score of 60 omissions can be recorded. 30 lateralized omissions is possible and a minimum score of 0 lateralized omissions is also possible.

The patient must cut the lines of different lengths (20 cm and 5 cm) into two equal parts.

The minimum value corresponds to a bisection at the center of the stimuli and the maximum value corresponds to a bisection at the contralesional end of this stimulus. More specifically, for the 20 cm lines, a deviation of +6.5 mm or -7.3 mm is considered a deficit, and for the 5 cm lines, a deviation of +2 mm or -2 mm is considered a deficit.

The patient has to copy a figure representing a house with trees on both sides on a sheet of A4 paper.

Each element of the drawing is individually marked with a score of 0 (if not represented or poorly represented) or 1 (if well represented). The omission of an element is considered a deficit and corresponds to a score below the maximum of 6.

The patient has to describe the objects in a visual scene presented on an A3 sheet of paper and placed in front of him or her.

The number of omissions in each part of the picture is analyzed. The total score is between 0 and 3: 0 corresponds to 3 or more omissions, 1 to 2 omissions, 2 to 1 omission, and 3 to no omissions. The patient is considered to be deficient if the score exceeds 0.

The patient and a therapist or family member complete a scale that asks questions about everyday activities.

The patient must answer 10 questions, each of which is scored from 0 to 3 according to the severity criterion. 0 corresponds to no neglect and 3 to significant neglect, so the minimum score is 0 and the maximum is 30. If a patient receives a score equal to or greater than 1, he is considered neglected.

The patient must indicate which key corresponds to the middle key of the piano. It's a qualitative measure. There are no minimum or maximum values among the 61 piano keys. However, the investigators can consider the minimum to be the actual center key of the piano and the maximum to be the contralesional key of the piano.

The patient must indicate which keys are furthest to the left and right of the piano.

It's a qualitative measure. The maximum value can be considered as the touch at the contralesional end, and the minimum as the touch at the ipsilesional end.

The patient is asked to perform the same task as in the classical test, but this time the bells are placed in a virtual environment 120° around the patient.

As in the classical version, the number of total and lateralized omissions is assessed. The minimum value corresponds to the absence of omissions and the maximum value corresponds to the total number of stimuli (35 bells) or the number of lateralized stimuli (15 bells in each hemifield).

The patient must localize auditory stimuli in a 180° horizontal virtual environment to a precise point in the virtual environment.

The difference between the real position of the sound and the position targeted by the patient is examined. The minimum value corresponds to no difference and the maximum value corresponds to a maximum difference between these two coordinates.

The patient has to cut bread sticks of different size into 2 equal parts. The minimum value corresponds to a bisection at the center of the stimulus and the maximum value corresponds to a bisection at the contralesional end of this stimulus. For each stimulus, a calculation is made between the value reported by the patient and the actual expected value.

The patient must place 16 pieces of dough evenly on a baking tray. The minimum value corresponds to an equal distribution between the 2 hemispaces of the tray (i.e. 8 pieces of dough on each side) and the maximum value corresponds to the positioning of all pieces in the contralesional hemispace. A difference of more than 2 cubes indicates a deficit.

At the beginning and end of each session, patients are asked to rate their mood on a visual analog scale from 1 to 10 to quantify the impact of their mood on the treatment.

Before and after each intervention, patients are asked to complete a Situational Motivation Questionnaire to assess the impact of their words on their health.