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OpenTrials
Active, Not Recruiting

NCT Number: NCT04798924

Visual Rehabilitation After Occipital Stroke

This research aims to examine changes in plastic potential of the visual system with time from stroke affecting primary visual cortex. We will measure structural and mechanistic aspects of progressive degeneration along the early visual pathways, correlating them with changes in visual performance, and in responsiveness to visual restoration training. This project will advance both scientific knowledge, as well as technical capability and clinical practices for restoring vision and quality of life for people suffering from cortical blindness.

Active, Not Recruiting

This study is active but is not currently recruiting participants.

Key information

Conditions

Stroke, Ischemic Blindness Brain Diseases Cardiovascular Diseases Central Nervous System Diseases Cerebrovascular Disorders Eye Diseases Hemianopia Hemianopsia Hemorrhagic Stroke Homonymous Hemianopia Homonymous Hemianopsia Ischemic Stroke Nervous System Diseases Neurologic Manifestations Occipital Lobe Infarct Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Peripheral Visual Field Defect Peripheral Visual Field Defect of Both Eyes Quadrantanopia Quadrantanopsia Sensation Disorders Signs and Symptoms Stroke Stroke Hemorrhagic Vascular Diseases Vision Disorders Vision Loss Partial Visual Field Defect, Peripheral Visual Fields Hemianopsia

Age range

21 year–75 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

University of Rochester

Rochester, New York, 14642, United States

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Residents of US and Canada
  • MRI and/or CT scans showing evidence of one-sided / unilateral stroke or stroke-like damage to the primary visual cortex or its immediate afferent white matter sustained less than 6-months prior to enrollment
  • Reliable visual field defects in both eyes as measured by Humphrey, Macular Integrity Assessment (MAIA), Goldmann, and/or equivalent perimetry. This deficit must be large enough to enclose a 5-deg diameter visual stimulus.
  • Ability to fixate on visual targets reliably for 1000ms (as demonstrated by visual fields, and verified in study participation)
  • Willing and safely able to undergo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning
  • Willing, able, and competent to provide informed consent
  • Fluent in written and spoken English
  • Cognitively able, responsible, and willing to complete daily visual training independently at home for several months.

Exclusion criteria

  • Past or present ocular disease interfering with vision
  • Best corrected visual acuity worse than 20/40 in either eye
  • Presence of damage to the dorsal Lateral Geniculate Nucleus, as shown on MRI/CT scans
  • Diffuse, whole brain degenerative processes
  • Brain damage deemed by study staff to potentially interfere with training ability or outcome measures
  • History of traumatic brain injury
  • Documented history of drug/alcohol abuse
  • Currently use of neuroactive medications which would impact training, as determined by PI
  • Cognitive or seizure disorders
  • One-sided attentional neglect
  • Inability to perform the visual training exercises as directed

Treatment and study plan

Subacute Training in the intact field

Device

A computer software and chin-rest necessary to perform visual training will be loaned to each subject to be used at home. They will perform one to two daily training sessions in their home, consisting of 200-300 trials each. The visual task performed repetitively will involve discriminating the direction of motion of a small cloud of dots located at a predetermined location in the intact field. The computer program will automatically create a record of patient performance during each home training session. Subjects will train daily (about 40-60 minutes total), 5 to 7 days per week for at least one and up to 6 months.

Subacute Training in the blind field

Device

A computer software and chin-rest necessary to perform visual training will be loaned to each subject to be used at home. They will perform one to two daily training sessions in their home, consisting of 200-300 trials each. The visual task performed repetitively will involve discriminating the direction of motion of a small cloud of dots located at a predetermined location in the blind field. The computer program will automatically create a record of patient performance during each home training session. Subjects will train daily (about 40-60 minutes total), 5 to 7 days per week for at least one and up to 6 months.

Chronic Training in the blind field

Device

After the initial training period of one to six months, the same computer software will continue to be used for all subjects. The visual task performed repetitively will involve discriminating the direction of motion of a small cloud of dots located at a predetermined location in the blind field. The computer program will automatically create a record of patient performance during each home training session. Subjects will train daily (about 40-60 minutes total), 5 to 7 days per week for at least 6 months.

Primary outcomes

  1. Direction Discrimination Threshold

    Time frame: baseline, 6 months, 12 months

    For each subject, we will measure the ability to detect differences in the motion direction of visual stimuli relative to horizontal, measured in degrees of visual angle. These assessments will be based on what can be reliably detected at a 72-75% correct level of performance.

    These measures of change will be evaluated baseline to 6-months post-stroke, then 6- to 12-months post stroke, and baseline to 12-months.**

    **NOTE: Our protocol allows for a +1 month variance for all timepoints.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Direction Integration Threshold

    Time frame: baseline, 6 months, 12 months

    This will measure the ability of subjects to integrate across a range of motion directions measured in degrees of visual angle. These assessments will be based on what range of motion directions can be reliably integrated at a 72-75% correct level of performance.

    These measures of change will be evaluated baseline to 6-months post-stroke, then 6- to 12-months post stroke, and baseline to 12-months.

    **NOTE: Our protocol allows for a +1 month variance for all timepoints.

  2. Contrast Sensitivity for Direction

    Time frame: baseline, 6 months, 12 months

    Assessment of visual perception transfer to untrained psychophysical tasks of contrast sensitivity for direction discrimination.

    For each subject, we will measure the ability to correctly detect the motion direction of visual stimuli that are also varying in contrast against a grey background. We will measure the luminance contrast that can be reliably detected at a 72-75% correct level of performance.

    These measures of change will be evaluated baseline to 6-months post-stroke, then 6- to 12-months post stroke, and baseline to 12-months.

    **NOTE: Our protocol allows for a +1 month variance for all timepoints.

  3. contrast sensitivity for static orientation

    Time frame: baseline, 6 months, 12 months

    Assessment of visual perception transfer to untrained psychophysical tasks of contrast sensitivity for static orientation discrimination.

    For each subject, we will measure the ability to correctly detect the orientation of non-moving visual stimuli that vary in contrast against a grey background. We will measure the luminance that can be reliably detected at a 72-75% correct level of performance.

    These measures of change will be evaluated baseline to 6-months post-stroke, then 6- to 12-months post stroke, and baseline to 12-months.

    **NOTE: Our protocol allows for a +1 month variance for all timepoints.

  4. Ganglion cell complex thickness laterality

    Time frame: baseline, 6 months, 12 months

    Change in thickness of the ganglion cell complex will be measured by retinal optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans from baseline to 6- and 12- months post stroke.**

    We will perform OCT imaging of the foveal region of the retina (6mm ETDRS) in both eyes of each patient. Images will be automatically segmented. Estimated thickness of the ganglion cell complex will be extracted and aligned with estimates of the blind field's visual sensitivity obtained from fundus-controlled MAIA perimetry. We will then compute a laterality index LI as follows: LIGCCT=(Tc-Ti)/(Tc+Ti) where Tc=thickness in the control lateral OCT quadrant, Ti=thickness in the impaired lateral OCT quadrant.

    **NOTE: Our protocol allows for a +1 month variance for all timepoints.

  5. Ganglion cell complex volume laterality

    Time frame: baseline, 6 months, 12 months

    Change in volume of the ganglion cell complex will be measured by retinal optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans from baseline to 6- and 12- months post stroke.**

    We will perform OCT imaging of the foveal region of the retina (6mm ETDRS) in both eyes of each patient. Images will be automatically segmented. Estimated volume of the ganglion cell complex will be extracted and aligned with estimates of the blind field's visual sensitivity obtained from fundus-controlled MAIA perimetry. We will then compute a laterality index as follows: LIGCCT=(Tc-Ti)/(Tc+Ti) where Tc=thickness in the control lateral OCT quadrant, Ti=thickness in the impaired lateral OCT quadrant.

    **NOTE: Our protocol allows for a +1 month variance for all timepoints.

  6. Optic Tract (OT) laterality

    Time frame: baseline, 6 months, 12 months

    OT volume analysis will be performed from high resolution structural T1 MRI images of the brain. Mirrored masks of equal size will be hand-drawn over the OTs in each brain slice of a given subject, starting three slices posterior to the optic chiasm and continuing posteriorly until the OTs are no longer distinct from surrounding structures. The volume of each optic tract will be calculated from these masks by first establishing the maximum voxel intensity (range from 0 to 255) across the two OTs, then counting the number of voxels in each OT mask with brightness values between 5 and 85% of this maximum. We will then compute an OT laterality Index (LI85) to represent the relative difference in estimated volume between the two OTs of each participant, where LI85=(OTc-OTi)/(OTc+OTi), where OTc=number of voxels with brightness 5-85% of maximum in the contralesional OT and OTi = number of voxels with brightness 5-85% of maximum in the ipsilesional OT.

Other outcomes

  1. MAIA Visual Field Perimetry

    Time frame: baseline, 6 months, 12 months

    We will measure the change in visual sensitivity (measured in decibels) at all locations tested by the system. These changes will be measured and compared between baseline, 6-months post stroke, and 12 months post stroke.**

    **NOTE: Our protocol allows for a +1 month variance for all timepoints.

  2. Humphrey 10-2 and 24-2 perimetry

    Time frame: baseline, 6 months, 12 months

    We will measure the change in visual sensitivity (measured in decibels) at all locations tested by the system. These changes will be measured and compared between baseline, 6-months post stroke, and 12 months post stroke.**

    **NOTE: Our protocol allows for a +1 month variance for all timepoints.

  3. Goldmann perimetry

    Time frame: baseline, 6 months, 12 months

    We will measure the change in area of vision (degrees squared) as encompassed by each isopter, measured by one of 3 different light stimuli.

    The 3 isopters we will compare are:

    • I2e 1asb, 0.25 mm^2
    • I4e 10asb, 0.25 mm^2
    • V4e 1000asb, 64 mm^2

    These changes will be measured and compared between baseline, 6-months post stroke, and 12 months post stroke.**

    **NOTE: Our protocol allows for a +1 month variance for all timepoints.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Rochester

Other

Collaborators

  • National Eye Institute (NEI)

Registry information

Important dates

Study start
2021
Primary completion
2025
Study completion
2028
First posted
Mar 15, 2021
Registry last updated
Dec 3, 2025

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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