Rehabilitation Methods for Unilateral Spatial Neglect in Stroke Patients

Stroke remains one of the leading causes of mortality and disability worldwide. Between 30% and 40% of patients who have had an acute cerebral hemorrhage, develop unilateral spatial neglect syndrome (USN). USN is observed in 24% of patients with left-hemispheric stroke and 45% of patients with right-hemispheric lesions in the acute phase acute phase and in 20% of patients in the chronic phase. The presence of USN significantly complicates the rehabilitation process and negatively affects the functional outcomes. The complexity of USN correction is due to the heterogeneity of its manifestations and combination with other cognitive disorders. In 30-50% of patients with USN anosognosia is observed, in 60% - memory and attention disorders. Traditional methods of rehabilitation lead to significant improvement in 30-50% of patients with USN. The use of combined methods of treatment, including pharmacotherapy and non-medication methods, can improve efficacy by up to 70-80%. This indicates the need to develop and investigate new approaches to correct USN. Despite the growing number of studies in this area, there is still no unified approach to selecting the optimal method of USN correction for each individual patient. Different methods of rehabilitation may have different effects on neuroplasticity processes, which opens new perspectives for optimization of rehabilitation strategies.