Multimodal virtual reality application for the study of unilateral spatial neglect

Abstract

In the present paper, we describe a virtual reality application developed for the study of unilateral spatial neglect, a post-stroke neurological disorder that results in failure to respond to stimuli presented contralaterally to the damaged hemisphere. Recently, it has been proposed that patients with unilateral spatial neglect experience sensorimotor decorrelation in the affected space. Consequently, it is possible that since the sensorimotor experience in the affected space is perturbed, patients avoid this space, which results in neglect behavior. Here, we evaluate this hypothesis using a virtual reality application built on the base of the Stringed Haptic Workbench, a large-scale visuo-haptic system. The results provide support for the hypothesis and demonstrate that the proposed application is suitable for the envisioned goal.