Hemispatial sunglasses: Effect on unilateral spatial neglect

doi:10.1016/S0003-9993(97)90269-0

Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Volume 78, Issue 2, February 1997, Pages 230-232

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0003-9993(97)90269-0 Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective: To investigate whether using glasses shaded on the non-neglected side would lead to less unilateral neglect during pencil-and-paper activities.

Design: Descriptive study of ten patients. One remarkable case is described in detail.

Setting: Rehabilitation medicine department in an urban general hospital.

Patients: Ten hemiplegic patients showing left unilateral neglect during pencil-and-paper activities.

Intervention: Use of glasses in which the right half of each lens was shaded by a darker lens like those used in sunglasses.

Main Outcome Measures: For unilateral neglect: (1) deviation from marking the middle of a 20-cm horizontal line; (2) number of lines left unmarked on the left hand portion of a page of 40 randomly oriented lines; (3) degree of failure to copy a representation of a cube.

Results: Among the ten patients, improvement was mixed for each of the three outcome measures. One patient, however, demonstrated dramatic and lasting improvement in functional activities by wearing the hemispatial sunglasses.

Conclusion: Hemispatial sunglasses appear to have a potentially specific effect on visual neglect in certain patients with right hemispheric lesions. Further investigation is necessary to determine the nature of this effect and its scope of applicability.

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Citation Excerpt :
Patching the right half-field initially helped patients to regain voluntary control over their deficits, but right monocular patching did not attenuate the symptoms of left neglect. Arai et al55 advanced a slightly different approach. Glasses instead of patches were used in which the right half of each lens was shaded by a darker lens (sunglasses).
Bogey RA, Geis CC, Bryant PR, Moroz A, O’Neill BJ. Stroke and neurodegenerative disorders. 3. Stroke: rehabilitation management. 2004;85(3 Suppl 1):S15–20.
This self-directed learning module highlights common rehabilitation issues in stroke survivors. Topics include spasticity, constraint-induced movement therapy, partial body weight-supported treadmill training, virtual reality training, vestibular retraining, aphasia treatment, and cognitive retraining. It is part of the study chapter on stroke and neurodegenerative disorders in the Self-Directed Physiatric Education Program for practitioners and trainees in physical medicine and rehabilitation.
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Hemispatial sunglasses: Effect on unilateral spatial neglect☆

Abstract

Brain Cogn

Exp Neurol

Cortex

Cortex

Perceptual remediation in patients with right brain damage: a comprehensive program

Arch Phys Med Rehabil

Visual scanning training effect on reading-related tasks in acquired right brain damage

Arch Phys Med Rehabil

Training sensory awareness and spatial organization in people with right brain damage

Arch Phys Med Rehabil

The effect of lateralized dynamic stimuli on unilateral spatial neglect following right hemisphere lesions

Restor Neurol Neurosci