Spatial neglect after stroke is reduced when lying inside a 3T MRI scanner

Abstract

Recently, it was discovered that the static magnetic field of an MRI scanner not only causes horizontal vestibular nystagmus in healthy individuals but, in addition, leads to a horizontal bias of spatial orienting and exploration that closely resembles the one observed in stroke patients with spatial neglect (a disorder of spatial attention and exploration). The present study asked whether the behavioral effects of this magnetic vestibular stimulation (MVS) can be inverted and thus be used to reduce the pathological bias of stroke patients with spatial neglect. Indeed, when patients with left-sided spatial neglect entered the scanner with their feet first, i.e., with the magnetic field vector pointing from head to toes, MVS inside the scanner reduced the ipsilesionally biased distribution of overt attention and the corresponding neglect of the left parts of the search-space. Thus, an intervention as simple as lying in a 3T MRI scanner bears the potential to become an integral part of a future strategy for treating spatial neglect.