Cognitive Training Procedures for Unilateral Neglect

Patients with a right hemisphere stroke often suffer from a cognitive disorder called neglect. This leads to a severe attentional deficit for the left side of space. Due to the resulting impairments in the activities of daily living, this syndrome represents a major negative prognostic factor for the clinical outcome of stroke patients. Despite promising therapeutic attempts, there is no established and widely accepted cognitive therapy to alleviate or cure neglect. This may be due to the transient nature of therapeutic effects, limited applicability in wide medical practice, and a lack of clear functional improvement of the patients in everyday activities. This article reviews different cognitive interventions to treat neglect with a special focus on advantages and disadvantages as well as evidence for clinically relevant effects of the individual therapies.