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Post-stroke, in addition to sensorimotor signs and symptoms, could lead to cognitive deficits. Theories of embodiment stress the role of sensorimotor system and multisensory integration in sustaining high-order cognitive domains. Despite conventional post-stroke cognitive rehabilitation being effective, innovative technologies could overcome some limitations of standard interventions and exploit bodily information during cognitive rehabilitation. This systematic review aims to investigate whether 'multisensory technologies' compared to usual care treatment can be a viable alternative for cognitive rehabilitation. By applying PRISMA guidelines, we extracted data and assessed the bias of 10 studies that met the required criteria. We found that multisensory technologies were at least comparable to standard treatment but particularly effective for attention, spatial cognition, global cognition, and memory. Multisensory technologies consisted principally of virtual reality alone or combined with a motion tracking system. Multisensory technologies without motion tracking were more effective than standard procedures, whereas those with motion tracking showed balanced results for the two treatments. Limitations of the included studies regarded the population (e.g., no study on acute stroke), assessment (e.g., lack of multimodal/multisensory pre-post evaluation), and methodology (e.g., sample size, blinding bias). Recent advancements in technological development and metaverse open new opportunities to design embodied rehabilitative programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decades technologies have started to be integrated into language rehabilitation, but more recently many innovations have been included in the health field, especially the use of virtual reality (VR) and mobile devices. The present review aims to investigate the use and efficacy of innovative technology-based interventions for language rehabilitation in post-stroke patients. We consider innovative technologies as those implementing either virtual reality or mobile software applications. For conducting this systematic review, we conformed to the PRISMA guidelines. The articles were selected by computer-based searches in three high-profile databases: PubMed, PsycINFO, and Web of Science. 13 studies met the inclusion criteria. Studies were also rated along the efficacy-effectiveness spectrum (RITES). Most of studies used a tablet to deliver the therapy, and only a few of them implemented VR-based treatments. Despite the paucity of literature, the results were encouraging, and showed efficacy and effectiveness of rehabilitation programs based on innovative technologies. Moreover, patients appeared compliant to treatments. In future studies, more robust research designs should be implemented with larger sample sizes, more homogenous samples, and comparisons with "treatment-as-usual" control conditions. Finally, we suggest an innovative use of VR for language rehabilitation within an embodied cognition approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]