title: Educating the blind brain: a panorama of neural bases of vision and of training programs in organic neurovisual deficits.
abstract: Vision is a complex function, which is achieved by movements of the eyes to properly foveate targets at any location in 3D space and to continuously refresh neural information in the different visual pathways. The visual system involves five main routes originating in the retinas but varying in their destination within the brain: the occipital cortex, but also the superior colliculus (SC), the pretectum, the supra-chiasmatic nucleus, the nucleus of the optic tract and terminal dorsal, medial and lateral nuclei. Visual pathway architecture obeys systematization in sagittal and transversal planes so that visual information from left/right and upper/lower hemi-retinas, corresponding respectively to right/left and lower/upper visual fields, is processed ipsilaterally and ipsialtitudinally to hemi-retinas in left/right hemispheres and upper/lower fibers. Organic neurovisual deficits may occur at any level of this circuitry from the optic nerve to subcortical and cortical destinations, resulting in low or high-level visual deficits. In this didactic review article, we provide a panorama of the neural bases of eye movements and visual systems, and of related neurovisual deficits. Additionally, we briefly review the different schools of rehabilitation of organic neurovisual deficits, and show that whatever the emphasis is put on action or perception, benefits may be observed at both motor and perceptual levels. Given the extent of its neural bases in the brain, vision in its motor and perceptual aspects is also a useful tool to assess and modulate central nervous system (CNS) in general.
authors.affiliation: The Neuropsychological Laboratory, CNS-Fed Paris, France ; Laboratoire Psychologie de la Perception, UMR 8242 CNRS-Université Paris Descartes Paris, France.
authors.forename: Olivier A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Coubard
authors.affiliation: Service de Médecine et de Réadaptation Gériatrique et Neurologique, Hôpitaux de Saint-Maurice Saint-Maurice, France ; Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle Epinière (ICM), Sorbonne Universités, Université Pierre et Marie Curie UM 75, Inserm U 1127, CNRS UMR 7225 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Marika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Urbanski
authors.affiliation: Service de Médecine et de Réadaptation, Clinique Les Trois Soleils Boissise-le-Roi, France.
authors.forename: Clémence
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bourlon
authors.affiliation: The Neuropsychological Laboratory, CNS-Fed Paris, France.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gaumet
keywords: binocular vision; eye movements; neurovisual disorders; visual pathways; visual rehabilitation