Non-pharmacological interventions for perceptual disorders following stroke and other adult-acquired, non-progressive brain injury 

Healthy adult brains are capable of processing multiple and complex information from our senses. We can perceive colour, shape and size, recognise objects and people's faces, estimate location, depth and distance. We can also conduct higher level functions drawing on our memory and cultural experience, e.g. understand written symbols or emotional states conveyed by facial expressions. A stroke or other acquired brain injury, such as a head injury, can affect these simple and complex perceptual abilities. Occupational therapists and psychologists offer different types of therapy such as practising personal care tasks, practising perceptual activities and puzzles, teaching strategies or encouraging intensive repetition of tasks. We do not know if any approach is beneficial. We searched for all relevant research, found six studies and assessed the quality of each study. We pooled their results where possible to draw our overall conclusions. Some of the original researchers provided additional information beyond that in their published studies. However, most of the research was conducted more than 10 years ago and only the published work was available to us. We found that all six studies examined the therapy approach of practising perceptual activities (e.g. puzzles and tasks that involve processing sensory information) with stroke patients. No study examined whether the therapy provided benefits past six month in terms of the level of independence in undertaking everyday activities. On the basis of existing research evidence, the benefit or harm of therapy for adults who experience difficulty processing sensory information after stroke or brain injury remains unknown. People with perceptual problems should continue to be offered rehabilitation as recommended in guidelines intended for healthcare practitioners. Future studies should be large enough to be conclusive and should look at the longer-term effects of therapy, including independence in doing everyday activities, emotions, outcome for family caregivers and potential harmful effects.