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Visual Perceptual Effects of Long-Standing Vision Loss

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Visual Prosthetics

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Abstract

This chapter focuses on the changes in vision experienced by patients with RP and AMD. The specific aspects of vision that are reviewed include progressive changes in central acuity, contrast sensitivity, visual field, color vision, night vision, glare, and light and dark adaptation. Emphasis is on patients’ perspectives, including the impact on functioning and performance of activities of daily living, as well as rates, patterns of vision loss, and day-to-day visual fluctuations experienced by those with retinal degenerative diseases. Several types of visual phenomena are presented, including Charles Bonnet Syndrome hallucinations in AMD, perceptual completion or filling-in of scotomas in AMD, remapping visual cortex in AMD, the preferred retinal locus in AMD, and photopsias or light show type flashes in RP. The proposed implications of these visual changes and phenomena as they apply to retinal prosthetic vision are discussed.

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Abbreviations

AIBSE:

Acute idiopathic blind spot enlargement

AMD:

Age-related macular degeneration

AZOOR:

Acute zonal occult outer retinopathy

CBS:

Charles Bonnet syndrome

fMRI:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging

GA:

Geographic atrophy

MEWDS:

Multiple evanescent white dot syndrome

PIC:

Punctate inner choroidopathy

PRL:

Preferred retinal locus

RP:

Retinitis pigmentosa

VEGF:

Vascular endothelial growth factor

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lions Vision Research & Rehabilitation Center, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 550 N. Broadway, 6th floor, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Ava K. Bittner

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  2. Janet S. Sunness
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Correspondence to Ava K. Bittner .

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  1. , Lions Vision Research & Rehabilitation C, Johns Hopkins University School of Medic, 550 N. Broadway, Baltimore, 21205-2020, Maryland, USA

    Gislin Dagnelie

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Bittner, A.K., Sunness, J.S. (2011). Visual Perceptual Effects of Long-Standing Vision Loss. In: Dagnelie, G. (eds) Visual Prosthetics. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0754-7_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0754-7_5

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