Changes in Reaction Time during Mental Rotation of Three-Dimensional Objects for Chronic Hemiparetic Stroke

Abstract

There is a cause and effect relationship in that brain injury causes impairment of mental rotation and ultimately independent functional activities. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of mental rotation on reaction time and precision between the normal adults and chronic hemiparetic stroke patients. Thirty-one patients with chronic hemiparetic stroke and twenty normal adults participated in this study. The participants conducted 2 types of tasks for mental rotation: a comparison task using mirror images, and a rotation task using angular disparity images for 2 different 3-dimensional objects. Each of the 3 possible angled shapes (90°, 180°, and 270°) appeared in each pair. The test consisted of 6 mirror-reflected image pairs and 6 angular disparity image pairs visualized during angular rotation, and 12 test periods. The subjects were judged on how accurately and rapidly they could distinguish between the mirrored and non-mirrored pairs. The study measured reaction time and precision to compare the effect of mental rotation tasks. Reaction time during all 3 angular conditions were significantly longer in the stroke patients than that in the normal adult during the comparison tasks and the rotation tasks. In addition, precision during mental rotation tasks was not significantly different between normal adults and stroke patients. Our results suggest that rehabilitation therapists should keep in mind that mental rotation is more difficult in stroke population than in normal adults. 요 약