Training-induced recovery of low-level vision followed by mid-level perceptual improvements in developmental object and face agnosia.
Long-term deprivation of normal visual inputs can cause perceptual impairments at various levels of visual function, from basic visual acuity deficits, through mid-level deficits such as contour integration and motion coherence, to high-level face and object agnosia. Yet it is unclear whether training during adulthood, at a post-developmental stage of the adult visual system, can overcome such developmental impairments. Here, we visually trained LG, a developmental object and face agnosic individual. Prior to training, at the age of 20, LG's basic and mid-level visual functions such as visual acuity, crowding effects, and contour integration were underdeveloped relative to normal adult vision, corresponding to or poorer than those of 5-6 year olds (Gilaie-Dotan, Perry, Bonneh, Malach & Bentin, 2009). Intensive visual training, based on lateral interactions, was applied for a period of 9 months. LG's directly trained but also untrained visual functions such as visual acuity, crowding, binocular stereopsis and also mid-level contour integration improved significantly and reached near-age-level performance, with long-term (over 4 years) persistence. Moreover, mid-level functions that were tested post-training were found to be normal in LG. Some possible subtle improvement was observed in LG's higher-order visual functions such as object recognition and part integration, while LG's face perception skills have not improved thus far. These results suggest that corrective training at a post-developmental stage, even in the adult visual system, can prove effective, and its enduring effects are the basis for a revival of a developmental cascade that can lead to reduced perceptual impairments.
Faculty of Medicine, Goldschleger Eye Research Institute, Tel Aviv University, Israel.
Maria
M
Lev
Sharon
S
Gilaie-Dotan
Dana
D
Gotthilf-Nezri
Oren
O
Yehezkel
Joseph L
JL
Brooks
Anat
A
Perry
Shlomo
S
Bentin
Yoram
Y
Bonneh
Uri
U
Polat
D000377:Agnosia / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005145:Face; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology*; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult