Study of Visual Retraining to Improve Vision After Stroke or Cortical Damage in Adults Aged 21 to 80

What this Trial Is About

Researchers are studying the effects of visual cortical damage on the remaining visual system, visual perception, spatial awareness, and brain function. They aim to understand how intensive visual retraining impacts the residual visual system, processing of visual information, and the practical use of this information after damage caused by stroke or similar brain injury. The study seeks to improve knowledge about permanent visual system damage, ways to reverse visual loss, and brain mechanisms behind visual recovery. Participants with cortical blindness will perform a daily home visual training task using computer software and a chin-rest loaned to them. They will complete one to two daily sessions involving 200-300 trials each, focusing on discriminating motion direction, motion presence, or visual stimulus orientation in their blind visual field. Training will last about 40-60 minutes per day, 5 to 7 days a week, for 3 to 12 months. Healthy control subjects will also be recruited to provide comparison data but will not perform home training. Throughout the study, participants will undergo standard clinical tests and psychophysical assessments to measure changes in visual abilities such as direction discrimination thresholds and contrast sensitivity over 4-6 and 8-12 months. Visual field tests including Humphrey, Goldmann, and MAIA perimetry will also be conducted to monitor vision changes. The study includes data collection on daily training performance and brain function, with participant involvement spanning several months of training and follow-up assessments.

Effect of Visual Retraining After Stroke