Visual rehabilitation: visual scanning, multisensory stimulation and vision restoration trainings.
Neuropsychological training methods of visual rehabilitation for homonymous vision loss caused by postchiasmatic damage fall into two fundamental paradigms: "compensation" and "restoration". Existing methods can be classified into three groups: Visual Scanning Training (VST), Audio-Visual Scanning Training (AViST) and Vision Restoration Training (VRT). VST and AViST aim at compensating vision loss by training eye scanning movements, whereas VRT aims at improving lost vision by activating residual visual functions by training light detection and discrimination of visual stimuli. This review discusses the rationale underlying these paradigms and summarizes the available evidence with respect to treatment efficacy. The issues raised in our review should help guide clinical care and stimulate new ideas for future research uncovering the underlying neural correlates of the different treatment paradigms. We propose that both local "within-system" interactions (i.e., relying on plasticity within peri-lesional spared tissue) and changes in more global "between-system" networks (i.e., recruiting alternative visual pathways) contribute to both vision restoration and compensatory rehabilitation, which ultimately have implications for the rehabilitation of cognitive functions.
Department of Psychology, University of Bologna Bologna, Italy ; Centre for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna Cesena, Italy.
Neil M
NM
Dundon
Department of Psychology, University of Bologna Bologna, Italy ; Centre for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna Cesena, Italy.
Caterina
C
Bertini
Department of Psychology, University of Bologna Bologna, Italy ; Centre for Studies and Research in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bologna Cesena, Italy.
Elisabetta
E
Làdavas
Medical Faculty, Institute of Medical Psychology, Otto-von-Guericke University of Magdeburg Magdeburg, Germany.
Bernhard A
BA
Sabel
Medical Faculty, Institute of Medical Psychology, Otto-von-Guericke University of Magdeburg Magdeburg, Germany.
Carolin
C
Gall
audio-visual training; hemianopia; neural plasticity; vision restoration training; visual scanning training