Improvement in reading performance through training with simulated thalamic visual prostheses
Open accessAbstract
Simulations of artificial vision are used to provide the researcher an opportunity to explore different aspects of visual prosthesis device design by observing subject performance on various tasks viewed through the simulation. Such studies typically use normal, sighted subjects to measure performance at a given point in time. Relatively few studies examine performance changes longitudinally to quantitatively assess the benefits from a training plan that would be akin to post-implantation rehabilitation. Here, we had six normal, sighted subjects use a standard reading task with daily practice over eight weeks to understand the effects of an intensive training schedule on adaptation to artificial sight. Subjects read 40 MNREAD-style sentences per session, with a new set each session, that were presented at five font sizes (logMAR 1.0–1.4) and through three center-weighted phosphene patterns (2,000, 1,000, 500 phosphenes). We found that subjects improved their reading accuracy across sessions, and that the training lead to an increase of reading speed that was equivalent to a doubling of available phosphenes. Most importantly, the hardest condition, while initially illegible, supported functional reading after training. Consistent with experience-driven neuroplastic changes, gaps in the training schedule lead to transient decreases in reading speed, but, surprisingly, not reading accuracy. Our findings contribute to our larger project of developing a thalamic visual prosthesis and to post-implant rehabilitation strategies.
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Preliminary evidence suggests that gaze-contingent image processing can improve the functional and subjective quality of prosthetic vision.
“While further research is required, there is some preliminary evidence that such a gaze-contingent image processing can improve the functional and subjective quality of prosthetic vision (Caspi et al., 2018; Paraskevoudi and Pezaris, 2021; Rassia and Pezaris, 2018; Titchener et al., 2018).”
From Towards biologically plausible phosphene simulation for the differentiable optimization of visual cortical prostheses (2024) · cites this paper as Rassia and Pezaris, 2018
The Discussion’s “Gaze Contingency” section says gaze compensation is expected to improve prosthesis performance and utility. The Discussion also reports improved reading accuracy and speed with training in a gaze-contingent simulation. But the study does not isolate the effect of gaze contingency from training or report improved subjective quality; page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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- Authors
- Rassia, K. E. K., & Pezaris, J. S.
- Affiliations
- National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (GR)
- Harvard University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Pezaris, John S.
- ORCID
- Pezaris, John S.
- Venue
- Scientific Reports
- Published
- 2018-11-05
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 16310-16310
- ISSN
- 2045-2322 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6218498
- OpenAlex
- W2899182696
- Cited by
- 13
- References
- 44
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 3 · 2019: 2
- FWCI
- 0.57
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Scientific Reports (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Fulbright Foundation in Greece
- William M. Wood Foundation
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neural Engineering
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Tactile and Sensory Interactions
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
- Keywords
- reading achievement, visual training, reading speed, reading accuracy, neuroplasticity, MNREAD, font size, longitudinal training
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Female, Humans, Male, Reaction Time, Reading, Thalamus, Young Adult, Visual Prosthesis
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