NCT04878861

Rehabilitating Visual Deficits Caused by Stroke

Rehabilitating Visual Deficits Caused by Stroke: Neurochemical and Neurophysiological Markers for Optimal Recovery

• Status: Unknown
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 20 (estimated)
• Sponsor: University of Oxford · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 80 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

This research aims to understand the efficacy of a visual training task to improve visual loss after stroke, also known as hemianopia. The investigators aim to understand whether training can improve vision and which areas or pathways in the brain are responsible for this improvement.

Detailed description

Damage to the primary visual cortex (V1) due to stroke usually results in loss of visual function in half of the visual world, this is known as hemianopia. This visual loss can negatively affect quality of life, as most stroke survivors are no longer permitted to drive and have difficulties with navigation and socialising. There are currently limited treatment options, although recent evidence suggests that visual training can be effective in improving visual function (Huxlin et al, 2009; Cavanaugh \& Huxlin, 2017). The aim of this research is to determine the capacity for visual rehabilitation after stroke using visual training and to understand the underlying brain mechanisms that might drive these improvements. This study will help the investigators to understand the brain mechanisms involved in visual rehabilitation and may allow the investigators to predict those most likely to benefit from visual rehabilitation in the future. Twenty stroke survivors with hemi- or quadrantanopia will complete a 6-month visual motion discrimination training programme at home. Each participant will have three study visits; at baseline, 6-months and 9-months. At each visit the investigators will take measures of 1) visual fields 2) detailed tests of visual function 3) quality of life and 4) MRI scans of brain structure, function and neurochemistry. Between the baseline (0 month) and 6-month post-training session, participants will complete visual training at home. Between the 6-month post-training session and 9-month follow up, participants will not complete visual training at home. This study will therefore allow the investigators to determine whether rehabilitation improves conscious visual perception and quality of life as well as providing understanding of the neural mechanisms that underlie this improvement. The investigators will also determine whether improvements or neural changes persist after 3-months without training.

Conditions

• Hemianopia
• Hemianopsia
• Quadrantanopia
• Stroke Induced Vision Loss

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Training in the blind field	Participants will complete visual training at two locations in the blind field. These two locations of training will be determined at the baseline study visit (0 months) and will be located within the perimetry-defined blind field. The training programme involves discriminating the direction of motion in a small circle of moving dots. The computer software and a chin-rest will be loaned to each participant to complete training at home. Participants will perform 300 trials at each location in their blind field, 5 days a week for at least 24 weeks (40-60 minutes in total). The computer programme will automatically generate a record of participant performance after each home training session.

Timeline

• Start date: 2020-12-13
• Primary completion: 2024-10-16
• Completion: 2024-10-16
• First posted: 2021-05-10
• Last updated: 2021-05-10

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United Kingdom