Training Oculo-motor Control to Improve Vision When Using a Preferred Retinal Locus

When high-detail vision is lost due to a retinal disease such as macular degeneration, people see poorly, and have difficulty with eye movements (oculo-motor control). This preliminary study will investigate a potential behavioral intervention that may improve the ability to perform vision-related daily activities such as reading, recognising faces and watching television. The intervention involves many sessions that will train visual perception and eye movements over a period of a few months. Participants will have either lost central vision in both eyes or have normal vision (control group).

Central Vision Loss GroupInclusion Criteria:Bilateral foveal loss that includes the fovea in each eye, as determined through retinal examinationfluent in EnglishCognitive function MoCA (Montreal Cognitive Assessment) test >20Binocular visual acuity 20/800 or betterable to sit for at least an hourExclusion Criteria:speech impedimenthistory of neurological or psychiatric diseaseinability to provide informed consentinability to follow instructions in EnglishNormal Vision Control GroupInclusion Criteria:fluent in EnglishCognitive function MoCA (Montreal Cognitive Assessment) test >25Binocular visual acuity 20/40 or betterable to sit for at least an hourExclusion Criteria:any ophthalmic disease that might impact on the conduct of the study, especially conditions that cause vision field lossspeech impedimenthistory of neurological or psychiatric diseaseinability to provide informed consentinability to follow instructions in English