Clinical Research Directory

Vision Rehabilitation Training With Multimodal Feedback in Central Vision Loss

Sponsor: New England College of Optometry

Summary

Central vision loss from macular degeneration creates blind spots that impair reading, face recognition, and navigation. Individuals must learn to use peripheral vision, requiring retraining of eye movements. Our preliminary research using high-speed eye tracking demonstrated that people with larger scotomas have impaired eye movement control, and that single-session visual feedback training showed limited immediate benefit, though combining feedback types showed promise. This study will evaluate whether extended binocular training (5 weekly sessions) with multimodal feedback improves eye movement control in 8-15 participants with bilateral central vision loss. Unlike conventional monocular rehabilitation systems, our approach trains both eyes simultaneously using real-time visual and auditory feedback during saccadic and smooth pursuit tasks. Participants will receive gaze-contingent scotoma awareness feedback, preferred retinal locus feedback, and auditory cues while performing eye tracking exercises. Primary outcomes include saccadic accuracy (latency, landing error, amplitude) and smooth pursuit parameters (gain, tracking accuracy). Secondary outcomes include contrast sensitivity and self-reported visual function. Success could establish an evidence base for accessible home-based training using virtual reality technology, potentially benefiting millions with macular degeneration.

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