First year after stroke: Tracking cognitive and affective deficits

A total of 58 cerebrovascular accident (CVA) rehabilitation inpatients with lateralized brain damage were assessed at two time points (T1 = admission to rehabilitation facility, about 7 weeks post-CVA, and T2 = 10 months post-CVA) in the following domains: hemispatial neglect, reaction time, depression, and affect comprehension. Performance was compared with 22 age-matched control subjects. Repeated measures ANOVAs were performed with patients subdivided into groups by laterality of lesion and visual field status (a strong predictor of psychometric performance, particularly in the hemispatial-neglect domain). During this initial year after stroke onset, significant improvements were observed in hemispatial neglect and affect comprehension in the two right-brain-damaged groups, but not the left-brain-damaged group. There was also a trend for improvement in observer rating of depression in all three groups. However, there was poor resolution of reaction time and self-reported depression in all three groups. These findings suggest that these latter domains should be targeted for more aggressive therapeutic intervention. An important component of such intervention, in addition to direct treatment of deficits, should be education of both patient and family as to the nature of deficits, expectations regarding resolution, and appropriate attributions of changed behavior after stroke.