Spatial navigation in the presence of dynamic obstacles in a virtual environment among people post-stroke: A preliminary study

Individuals with stroke demonstrate deficits in community ambulation, which may be related to deficits in obstacle avoidance. We have devised a VR paradigm to assess locomotor strategies for obstacle circumvention. Four individuals with chronic stroke and four healthy controls walked towards a target while in the presence of a moving obstacle. Dynamic clearance from the obstacle was smaller among people with stroke for a head-on obstacle approach, while it was larger than the control group for diagonal obstacle approaches. This can be attributed to different locomotor adjustments required for each obstacle approach direction and perceptuo-motor impairments in people with stroke.