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VISUAL REHABILITATION AFTER LONG LASTING EARLY BLINDNESS
Author(s) -
CARLSON SYNNÖVE,
HYVÄRINEN LEA
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
acta ophthalmologica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.534
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1755-3768
pISSN - 1755-375X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1755-3768.1983.tb04361.x
Subject(s) - rehabilitation , blindness , retinopathy of prematurity , medicine , visual rehabilitation , psychology , physical medicine and rehabilitation , visual acuity , optometry , ophthalmology , physical therapy , pregnancy , biology , genetics , gestational age
A 23‐year‐old woman, blinded at an early age due to retinopathy of prematurity and cataract was succesfully operated. After the operation the patient was behaviourally blind. Visual rehabilitation was started 9 months later and lasted 1 1/2 years. During this time the visual behaviour of the patient improved. Quantitative tests were designed to depict the progress. The functional improvement of the patient is in agreement with the findings of animal studies; binocular deprivation during the critical period of development causes behavioural blindness, which is partially recoverable. The result of this study indicates that the visual rehabilitation facilitates the process of recovery. The progress in visual behaviour is likely to reflect an improvement of the function of the associative systems of the brain.