Brain Rhythms in Altered Vision After Stroke (BRAVAS)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Brain Rhythms in Altered Vision After Stroke (BRAVAS)
IRAS ID
227788
Contact name
Gemma Learmonth
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Clinical Research and Development, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 5 months, 30 days
Research summary
Some patients can be affected by a condition called “hemispatial neglect” (or “neglect”) after a stroke. Patients with neglect often behave as though one side of their environment (usually the left) no longer exists. This is caused by a disruption of the areas of the brain that are responsible for attention, but the areas responsible for vision are usually not affected. Unfortunately, patients with neglect often do not recover as well or as quickly as patients without neglect, and there are very few treatments available with which to improve this problem.
This is a pilot study. Our main goal is to test whether we can collect good quality recordings of brain activity using a procedure called electroencephalography (EEG) in 10 patients with neglect and/or loss of vision (5 with damage to the left side of the brain, 5 with damage to the right). Secondly, we will assess whether the task is appropriate for use in this patient population. During EEG recording, we will investigate the effects of stimulation using a short sound (called “phasic alerting”) that may improve the patient’s ability to see a small square (“target”) on a computer screen. It is thought that the sound improves general alertness, which may improve attention because of the strong connections between these areas in the brain.
We hope to use this information to plan a larger study in the future, which will pose the following questions: does phasic alerting have a more pronounced effect in patients with neglect, compared to patients with loss of vision caused by a stroke, but no loss of attention; and whether there are differences in the response between right and left sided strokes.
REC name
West of Scotland REC 5
REC reference
17/WS/0259
Date of REC Opinion
12 Jan 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion