July 25, 2009 It may be possible to improve impaired attention
after stroke — which could aid recovery — according to research
reported in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Impaired attention is the most prominent stroke-related
neuropsychological change and is reported in at least 46 percent
and as many as 92 percent of stroke survivors, said Suzanne L.
Barker-Collo, Ph.D., a senior lecturer and neuropsychologist at
the University of Auckland in New Zealand. Impaired attention
can reduce cognitive productivity and the ability to focus on
tasks. It’s key to re-learning motor skills. In the first full-
scale single-blinded, randomized clinical trial using Attention
Process Training (APT), 78 stroke survivors were randomized to
receive APT or standard rehabilitation care. APT is designed to
improve the ability to maintain attention, as well as to shift
attention (such as when having a conversation with more than one
person) and to attend to more than one thing at a time. It’s
been used successfu