Grant: Doctoral Research Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Background & Objective: When someone has a stroke on the right side of their brain, they might experience a condition called Hemispatial Neglect (HN). Although HN is caused by difficulties with attention, people with this condition may display behaviours that resemble issues with vision. This means they have trouble noticing things on their left side, leading to problems like bumping into things, struggling with personal care (e.g., hygiene, grooming), or having trouble driving or reading. Current methods to diagnose HN are inaccurate, so researchers are exploring eye-tracking technology to improve detection. However, this research is still new and requires more investigation. As such, our goal is to see if eye-tracking can help predict recovery after a stroke. Method: Patients who have had a stroke will be asked to join the study from a local hospital. First, they'll do some regular tests that hospitals usually use to understand their behaviour. After that, the same patients will also be checked using a special eye-tracking method. The same follow-up testing will also be conducted six months after initial data collection to measure how well patients have recovered. Data will be analyzed to determine whether eye-tracking is a more effective assessment than traditional methods. Implications: HN is a significant issue for people recovering from strokes, often causing more disability than the stroke itself. Unfortunately, it's usually not recognized because the current tests lack accuracy and are not particularly sensitive to deficits. Our study will give us new insights into whether using eye-tracking technology can help doctors properly detect HN in stroke survivors, improving their chances of getting the proper care.