Reading with Eccentric Fixation is Faster in Inferior Visual Field Than in Left Visual Field

Latham, Keziah; Hazel, Charlotte A.; Fine, Elisabeth M.; Rubin, Gary S.

doi:10.1097/00006324-200001000-00011

Cited by 61 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Petre et al (2000) also found that peripheral reading speed was faster in † It should be noted that the untrained reading speeds of about 10 wpm in the Nilsson et al (2003) study were lower than those reported in other AMD studies (e.g. Legge et al, 1985e.g.…”

Section: Function-driven Explanation Of Prlmentioning

confidence: 70%

“…The average maximum reading speeds were 124 wpm for the lower-/upperfield PRL group and 105 wpm for the other PRL groups. The reason for the discrepancy between Fletcher et al's study on patients with low vision, and the TRL (Nilsson et al, 1998(Nilsson et al, , 2003 and normal peripheral reading studies (Fine & Rubin, 1999;Petre et al, 2000) is yet to be determined. While either a lower-or upper-field PRL may be advantageous in English reading, a visual field loss below the PRL (i.e.…”

Section: Function-driven Explanation Of Prlmentioning

confidence: 87%

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Functional and cortical adaptations to central vision loss

2005

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Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), affecting the retina, afflicts one out of ten people aged 80 years or older in the United States. AMD often results in vision loss to the central 15-20 deg of the visual field (i.e. central scotoma), and frequently afflicts both eyes. In most cases, when the central scotoma includes the fovea, patients will adopt an eccentric preferred retinal locus (PRL) for fixation. The onset of a central scotoma results in the absence of retinal inputs to corresponding regions of retinotopically mapped visual cortex. Animal studies have shown evidence for reorganization in adult mammals for such cortical areas following experimentally induced central scotomata. However, it is still unknown whether reorganization occurs in primary visual cortex (V1) of AMD patients. Nor is it known whether the adoption of a PRL corresponds to changes to the retinotopic mapping of V1. Two recent advances hold out the promise for addressing these issues and for contributing to the rehabilitation of AMD patients: improved methods for assessing visual function across the fields of AMD patients using the scanning laser ophthalmoscope, and the advent of brain-imaging methods for studying retinotopic mapping in humans. For the most part, specialists in these two areas come from different disciplines and communities, with few opportunities to interact. The purpose of this review is to summarize key findings on both the clinical and neuroscience issues related to questions about visual adaptation in AMD patients.

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Section: Function-driven Explanation Of Prlmentioning

confidence: 70%

Section: Function-driven Explanation Of Prlmentioning

confidence: 87%

Functional and cortical adaptations to central vision loss

2005

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“…The ability of the PRL to direct eye movements, whether it be saccadic ability (measured by the number and characteristics of saccades) or fixation stability, are far more closely correlated with reading speed and correct reading rate than either visual acuity or the presence of a scotoma (Schuchard 2005;Petre et al 2000;Sunness et al 1996;Cummings et al 1985;Steinman et al 1973;Whittaker et al 1991). It is perhaps surprising that there is no correlation between scotoma size and fixation stability, as fixation is known to become less precise as eccentricity increases, and a larger scotoma will lead to a more eccentric PRL being used.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low-Vision Rehabilitation by Means of MP-1 Biofeedback Examination in Patients with Different Macular Diseases: A Pilot Study

Salvatore

Cavarretta

2009

Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback

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Macular disease is one of the main causes of visual impairment. We studied the efficacy of low-vision rehabilitation by means of MP-1 biofeedback examination in patients with different macular disease. Five patients were enrolled (3 female and 2 male, mean age 53.8 years) and a total of 9 eyes was examined: 2 eyes with vitelliform dystrophy, 1 with a post-traumatic macular scar, 2 with Stargardt disease, 2 with myopic macular degeneration, 2 with cone dystrophy. All the patients underwent the following tests: visual acuity, reading speed, fixation test, MP-1 microperimetry. Low-vision rehabilitation, which lasted 10 weeks, consisted of 10 training sessions of 10 min for each eye, performed once a week using the MP-1 biofeedback examination. Statistical analysis was performed using Student's t-test. p values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. After training all patients displayed an improvement in visual acuity, fixation behaviour, retinal sensitivity and reading speed. Fixation behaviour within the 2 degrees diameter circle improved and was statistically significant for reading speed (p = 0.01). Reading speed improved from a mean value of 64.3 to 92 words/min. Our results show that audio feedback can, by increasing attentional modulation, help the brain to fix the final preferred retinal locus. Audio feedback facilitates stimuli transmission between intraretinal neurons as well as between the retina and brain, which is where the highest level of stimuli processing occurs, thereby probably supporting a "remapping phenomenon".

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“…Furthermore, the location is typically at the border of the scotoma, and it is not always optimal for visual tasks such as reading (Petre et al, 2000;Frennesson & Nilsson, 2007). There is a theoretical advantage to reading with a PRL located in the inferior part of the visual field.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plasticity of fixation in patients with central vision loss

et al. 2009

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The aim of this study was to explore the plasticity of fixation in patients with central vision loss. Most of these patients use preferred retinal loci (PRLs) in the healthy eccentric part of the retina to fixate, but fixation stability and retinal location are not always optimal for best visual performance. This study examined whether fixation stability and a new PRL location can be trained and whether these changes in ocular motor control transfer into better reading performance. Six patients with age-related macular degeneration participated in the study. Fixation stability measurements, microperimetry, and auditory biofeedback training were performed with the MP-1 microperimeter. The auditory biofeedback was used during five 1-h long training sessions to improve fixation and relocate the PRL. Fixation location and stability were recorded while viewing four different targets: a cross, a letter, a word, and a nine-cycle radial grating. Visual acuity was assessed with the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) chart and reading performance with the MNRead test. The results showed that all patients developed a new PRL in an optimal location for reading, and they were able to use it consistently while viewing different targets. Fixation stability improved 53% after training. Learning transferred to the old PRL even though fixation stability at this location was not trained. All these improvements in ocular motor control translated into better reading performance: reading speed improved 38% and reading acuity and critical print size gained two lines. We conclude that the ability of the ocular motor system to fixate is flexible in patients with central vision loss: a new PRL can be trained, fixation stability can be improved, and learning transfers to an untrained location. These gains in ocular motor control result in better visual performance. This property can be successfully used to optimize the residual vision of patients with central vision loss.

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Reading with Eccentric Fixation is Faster in Inferior Visual Field Than in Left Visual Field

Abstract: For reading tasks not involving eye movements, there is an advantage in eccentrically fixating such that text falls in inferior rather than left visual field.

Cited by 61 publications

References 34 publications

Functional and cortical adaptations to central vision loss

Functional and cortical adaptations to central vision loss

Low-Vision Rehabilitation by Means of MP-1 Biofeedback Examination in Patients with Different Macular Diseases: A Pilot Study

Plasticity of fixation in patients with central vision loss

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