Constraint Induced Neglect Therapy (CINT): A Proposed Technique for Spatial Neglect Rehabilitation in Patients With Stroke

ABSTRACT Effective rehabilitation techniques for neglect are lacking. The aim of this article is to propose a method in which a comfortable sound that is convenient to the hearing of patients with stroke will be delivered to the affected side's ear via a head phone for 6 h a day divided in 3 sessions (2 h each) per day, for 2 weeks to improve neglect syndrome. In addition, the unaffected side's ear will be plugged with cotton wool swab (constraint) to prevent it from hearing the sound. Furthermore, at the same time, patients will be asked to practice 100 repetitions of tasks observation in addition to mental practice or task practice with the affected upper limb depending on the level of their motor ability. The rationale for the technique is that, introduction of sound to the affected side's ear and tasks observation in addition to mental practice or task practice with the affected upper limb will cause tonic deviation of eyeball to the affected side and normalize interhemispheric inhibition, respectively. However, experimental studies need to be carried out to investigate the effects of this proposed technique.