Clinical Trials Logo

Clinical Trial Summary

A greater understanding of plasticity after central vision loss can inform new therapies for treating low vision and has the potential to benefit millions of individuals suffering from low vision. The treatment of low vision is particularly relevant to the mission of the NEI to support research on visual disorders, mechanisms of visual function, and preservation of sight. The comparison of different training and outcome factors is in line with the NIMH RDOC framework and studies in an aging population are consistent with the mission of the NIA.


Clinical Trial Description

Research on perceptual learning (PL) has been dominated by studies that seek to isolate and improve individual visual processes. However, an important translational outcome of PL research is to address the needs of patients with vision loss, who seek to improve performance on daily tasks such as reading, navigation, and face recognition. These more ecological cases of behavioral change and cortical plasticity, which are inherently complex and integrative, have revealed significant gaps in a more holistic understanding of how multiple visual processes and their associated brain systems jointly contribute to durable and generalizable PL. To address these gaps, here the investigators study simulated and natural central vision loss. The investigators focus on macular degeneration (MD), one of the most common causes of vision loss (projected to affect 248 million people worldwide by 2040), which results from damage to photoreceptors in the macula that disrupts central vision. Such central vision loss is a superb lens through which study to how ecologically relevant changes in the use of vision relate to changing brain activity and connectivity because it represents a massive alteration in visual experience requiring reliance on peripheral vision for daily tasks. With the use of eye-trackers and gaze-contingent displays that induce central scotomas, central vision loss can be simulated in normally seeing individuals, who then develop peripheral looking patterns that resemble compensatory vision strategies seen in MD patients. Ideal use of peripheral vision requires improvement in multiple vision domains, three of the most important being: early visual processing (e.g., visual sensitivity), mid-level visual processing (e.g., spatial integration), and attention and eye-movements. To date, no study has systematically investigated these three domains of PL and their neural underpinnings. The proposed research plan rests on rigorous prior work showing that PL influences multiple brain structures and functions related to these three domains. The investigators propose a novel approach of systematically measuring how different training regimes related to the three domains influence a broad range of psychophysical and ecological behaviors (Aim 1), how these changes arise from plasticity in brain structure and function (Aim 2), and how PL after simulated central vision loss compares to PL in MD (Aim 3). This work is significant and innovative as it will be the first integrated study of PL characterizing multiple trainable factors and their impact on diverse behavioral outcomes and on cutting-edge assessments of neural representations and dynamics. It is also the first study to directly compare PL in MD patients with PL in a controlled model system of central visual field loss with simulated scotomas, which if validated will allow the use of this model system to interrogate MD in larger samples of healthy individuals. The investigators will also share a unique dataset that will help the field to understand behavioral and neural plasticity after central vision loss and individual differences in responsiveness to training. Finally, this work will illuminate basic mechanisms of brain plasticity after sensory loss that may generalize to other forms of rehabilitation after peripheral or central damage. ;


Study Design


Related Conditions & MeSH terms


NCT number NCT05454124
Study type Interventional
Source University of Alabama at Birmingham
Contact Rachel A Chua, MS
Phone 205-410-4041
Email r2chel@uab.edu
Status Recruiting
Phase N/A
Start date November 1, 2022
Completion date November 2025

See also
  Status Clinical Trial Phase
Recruiting NCT06262737 - Single-center Study Measuring OSDI Dry Eye Score in Patients Undergoing an Anti-VEGF Induction Protocol
Completed NCT02540954 - Efficacy and Safety of Two Different Aflibercept Regimens in Subjects With Neovascular Age-related Macular Degeneration (nAMD) Phase 3
Completed NCT00385333 - Metabolic Mapping to Measure Retinal Metabolism Phase 2
Completed NCT02510794 - Study of the Efficacy and Safety of the Ranibizumab Port Delivery System for Sustained Delivery of Ranibizumab in Patients With Subfoveal Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration Phase 2
Terminated NCT02228304 - Study of the Intravitreal Implantation of NT-503-3 Encapsulated Cell Technology (ECT) for the Treatment of Recurrent Choroidal Neovascularization (CNV) Secondary to Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) Phase 1/Phase 2
Completed NCT02390245 - Philadelphia Telemedicine Glaucoma Detection and Follow-Up Study N/A
Completed NCT02181504 - A Study of Abicipar Pegol in Japanese Patients With Neovascular Age-related Macular Degeneration Phase 2
Recruiting NCT01521065 - An Open-label Study to Evaluate the Clinical and Economic Benefits of I-Ray in Patients With Choroidal Neovascularization Secondary to Age-related Macular Degeneration Phase 2
Completed NCT01204541 - A Single-Center Pilot Study to Assess Macular Function N/A
Completed NCT00769392 - Pilot Study: A Randomized Trial Of Anesthetic Agents For Intravitreal Injection N/A
Completed NCT00536016 - A Phase 1 Safety Study of Single and Repeated Doses of JSM6427 (Intravitreal Injection) to Treat AMD Phase 1
Withdrawn NCT00538538 - Subretinal Lucentis for Hemorrhagic Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) Phase 1
Completed NCT00533520 - Evaluation of Dosing Interval of Higher Doses of Ranibizumab Phase 4
Terminated NCT00403442 - Bevacizumab in Combination With Verteporfin Reduced and Standard Fluence in the Treatment of Hemorrhaged Lesions in Neovascular AMD Phase 1
Recruiting NCT00157976 - Double-Masked Study of Photrex (Rostaporfin) Photodynamic Therapy in the Treatment of Age-Related Macular Degeneration Phase 3
Completed NCT00242580 - A Safety and Efficacy Study Comparing the Combination Treatments of Verteporfin Therapy Plus One of Two Different Doses of Intravitreal Triamcinolone Acetonide and the Verteporfin Therapy Plus Intravitreal Pegaptanib Phase 3
Completed NCT00211458 - Treatment of Age-Related Macular Degeneration With Anecortave Acetate Phase 2
Completed NCT00239928 - Clinical Study Of Pegaptanib Sodium (EYE001) For Wet-Type Age-Related Macular Degeneration Phase 2
Completed NCT00095433 - Extension Study of rhuFab V2 in Subjects With Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) Phase 3
Completed NCT00006202 - Lutein for Age-Related Macular Degeneration Phase 2