Gaze behavior during turning while walking in hemiparesis stroke patients

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K19315
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 59010:Rehabilitation science-related
• Research Institution: Saitama Prefectural University
• Principal Investigator: Nakamura Takahito 埼玉県立大学, 保健医療福祉学部, 助教 (70847962)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 脳卒中 / 視線行動 / サッカード / 同名半盲 / 歩行

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Hemiplegic stroke patients tend to look at their feet while walking. They might be difficult to recognize in advance to the enviormental information. The purpose in this study was to determine how to gaze behavior affects their walking task in hemiplegic stroke patients.
We performed the two tasks. First, we performed a simple gaze response task to visually cued in the young people. The results showed that the gaze response time was constant regardless in both postural and gait conditions. Second, we focused on the gaze behavior of the stroke patients with homonymous hemianopsia. The results suggested that the saccade dysfunction might have a effect on gaze behavior during walking.

Free Research Field

リハビリテーション

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

同名半盲を有する脳卒中片麻痺者が障害物を見落としてしまう要因は、視野の問題だけでなく、眼球運動機能自体も関与している可能性を示した。同名半盲者は障がい側視野を補うための代償戦略によって見落としを回避しようと試みるが，それでも見落としが生じる場合，運動機能が高くても歩行自立に至らず、活動範囲を拡大することは難しい状況となる。
本研究で得られた成果を踏まえ、眼球運動機能向上によって視線行動自体を改善させることができれば、同名半盲者の活動範囲拡大につながる可能性があり、社会的意義は大きい。