Research scientist at Kessler Foundation receives $231,000 grant from American Heart Association

Olga Boukrina, PhD, research scientist in Stroke Rehabilitation Research at Kessler Foundation, has received a three-year award from the American Heart Association(AHA) valued at $231,000. The grant funds a study exploring a potential neural mechanism that could explain the high incidence of delirium and spatial neglect after right-hemisphere stroke. Stroke survivors, representing 17% of the US population aged 65 and over, are at a major risk for developing delirium and/or spatial neglect, with up to 50% incidence for one or both disorders after right-brain stroke.

"We know that individuals with right-brain stroke and spatial neglect are particularly susceptible to developing delirium," said Olga Boukrina, PhD. "This suggests that the neural mechanisms linked to spatial neglect -- arousal, attention, and spatial orientation -- may also play a crucial part in post-stroke delirium. This AHA award enables me to further cultivate and test the efficacy of novel attentional-behavioral therapies and potential diagnostic tools and treatments."

This study will relate behavioral data and functional magnetic resonance imaging in individuals with right-brain stroke to look for associations between the impaired activity and the structural integrity of the brain systems for arousal, attention, and spatial orientation. The findings of this study may help reduce hospital morbidity and loss of independence by providing a critical biomarker and behavioral profile for delirium and spatial neglect after right-hemisphere stroke.