Can implicit learning of auditory regularities reduce visual neglect symptoms?

Patients with moderate neglect are able to extract visual regularities to direct their
attention faster toward the neglected side. So, given the benefits of auditory
stimulations in unilateral neglect, we hypothesized that implicit learning of auditory
regularities could help patients reduce their rightward visual spatial bias, even if they
suffered from more severe neglect. We compared the ability of neglect patients to
exploit the predictive value of a cue to respond more quickly and accurately to targets
on the left in two equivalent Posner spatial cueing task with either visual or auditory
cueing. The majority of the cues (i.e. 80%) were invalid, indicating that the target would
appear on the opposite side, although patients were not informed of this bias. Unlike
our hypothesis, our results demonstrate that neglect patients are able to use the cue’s
predictability to orient faster their attention toward the left when the cues are visual, but
not when they are auditory. However, the results of our case studies are hopeful
because these show that some neglect patients are able to learn the cue-target
relationship implicitly in auditory modality to reduce their rightward bias. Indeed, case
studies reveal that there may be some dissociation between modalities.