Article

Visual field deficit (VFD) is one of the most commonly observed symptoms
following brain injury. Persistent VFD and defective exploratory oculomotor
scanning patterns often cause severe impairment in daily activities, particularly
as regards visual exploration and reading. Homonymous hemianopia is consequently
a powerful negative predictor of patient outcome. In spite of these quantitative
and qualitative factors, there currently exists no consensus on rehabilitative
therapy and treatment. Different approaches have nevertheless been developed, all
of them having one therapeutic principle in common; repeated practice of a
specific visual task, with the hope/expectation that improved performance will
extend to a wide range of ecologically useful visual functions. The four main
available methods aim at replacing part of the intact visual field with part of
the damaged visual field (optical therapy using prisms), at partially restoring
the lost visual field region (restorative therapies), at stimulating detection
capacities in the blind field (stimulation or blindsight) or at substituting for
the lost region by reorganizing the control of visual information processing and
eye movements (compensatory therapies). This review explores the key data
relative to these different approaches in terms of behavioral or imagery results.
It also aims at critically analyzing the advantages and limits of each one. The importance of strict assessment in terms of deficiencies or disabilities is
underlined. Finally, upon consideration of these data taken as a whole, it is
suggested that efficient treatment would probably have to associate general
components and more specific elements, according to what may be done with regard
to other aspects of cognitive rehabilitation.
CI - Copyright A(c) 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS ; FRANCAIS