The study assessed whether the auditory reference provided by a music scale could improve spatial exploration of a standard musical instrument keyboard in right‐brain‐damaged patients with left spatial neglect. As performing music scales involves the production of predictable successive pitches, the expectation of the subsequent note may facilitate patients to explore a larger extension of space in the left affected side, during the production of music scales from right to left. Eleven right‐brain‐damaged stroke patients with left spatial neglect, 12 patients without neglect, and 12 age‐matched healthy participants played descending scales on a music keyboard. In a counterbalanced design, the participants' exploratory performance was assessed while producing scales in three feedback conditions: With congruent sound, no‐sound, or random sound feedback provided by the keyboard. The number of keys played and the timing of key press were recorded. Spatial exploration by patients with left neglect was superior with congruent sound feedback, compared to both Silence and Random sound conditions. Both the congruent and incongruent sound conditions were associated with a greater deceleration in all groups. The frame provided by the music scale improves exploration of the left side of space, contralateral to the right hemisphere, damaged in patients with left neglect. Performing a scale with congruent sounds may trigger at some extent preserved auditory and spatial multisensory representations of successive sounds, thus influencing the time course of space scanning, and ultimately resulting in a more extensive spatial exploration. These findings offer new perspectives also for the rehabilitation of the disorder.

中文翻译：

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通过音阶演奏来改善对左空间的忽视。

该研究评估了音乐量表提供的听觉参考是否可以改善右脑损伤的左空间忽视患者中标准乐器键盘的空间探索性。由于演奏音阶涉及可预测的连续音调的产生，因此在从右到左制作音阶的过程中，对后续音符的期望可能会帮助患者在受影响的左侧探索更大的空间扩展。11名右脑损伤的中风患者左空间被忽视，12名无忽视的中风患者，以及12名年龄匹配的健康参与者在音乐键盘上演奏了递减的音阶。在平衡设计中，评估参与者的探索性表现，同时在三种反馈条件下产生音阶：声音一致，无声音，或键盘提供的随机声音反馈。记录播放的键数和按键的时间。与沉默和随机声音条件相比，左忽略患者的空间探索在声音反馈一致的情况下要好得多。在所有组中，一致的和不一致的声音状况都与更大的减速相关。音阶提供的框架可改善对左半球对侧受损的左侧空间的探索，该空间在左忽视患者中受损。用一致的声音执行音阶可以在某种程度上触发连续声音的保留的听觉和空间多感官表示，从而影响空间扫描的时间过程，并最终导致更广泛的空间探索。