Objective and subjective measures of visual performance improved with NeuroEyeCoach
FRIDAY, Feb. 28, 2020 (HealthDay News) — An eye movement training approach is efficacious for improving visual performance in hemianopic patients, according to a study published in the April issue of Cortex.
NeuroEyeCoach was established to address standardization and wide accessibility of eye movement training for rehabilitation of visual loss as a result of brain injury. Arash Sahraie, Ph.D., from the University of Aberdeen in the United Kingdom, and colleagues reported findings of the first 296 consecutive hemianopic cases who have accessed and completed NeuroEyeCoach online. Before and after therapy, patients’ performance on two objective (visual search times and errors) and one subjective (self-reported disability) measures of performance were assessed.
The researchers found that in 87, 80, and 66 percent of all cases, there was improvement in search time, fewer errors, and improvement in disability, respectively. Age significantly predicted improved search errors, with larger improvements among older patients. The time between brain injury and intervention had a negative impact on search reaction time. None of the factors examined predicted improvement in disability.
“Our results show that rehabilitation of vision loss after brain injury is possible and can drastically improve patients’ quality of life,” Sahraie said in a statement. “This study has provided answers to important questions as to whether rehabilitation outcome is affected by how old people are when they suffer their injury or how long ago they had their vision loss.”
Several authors disclosed financial ties to NovaVision, which also funded the development of NeuroEyeCoach.
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