Examining a visuospatial/visuomotor training program as an intervention to induce cognitive improvement during acute post-stroke recovery.

Purpose: A novel visuospatial (VS)/visuomotor (VM) cognitive training program was examined as an intervention tool to improve acute post-stroke recovery. Method: A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 9 experimental participants (age 65 ± 9.31) and 9 controls (age 67 ± 7.81). Intervention training included 1 hour/5-days a week for 4 weeks. Pre-and post-training neuropsychological measures were utilized as determinants of program success. Results: Compared to controls, the intervention group displayed significant gains on all outcome measures including: global (MMSE, p=.002), language (BN, p=.001), VS (Rey-O, p=.011), memory (HVLT, p=.005), executive function (Animal, p=.001), mood (GDS, p=.020) and functional ability (DAD, p=.008). Conclusion: VS/VM cognitive training results in improved cognition, function and mood beyond the outcomes of traditional intervention alone. Thus, this innovative type of intervention shows promise for revolutionizing current stroke rehabilitation.The original print copy of this thesis may be available here: http://wizard.unbc.ca/record=b175495