Back to Journals » Eye and Brain » Volume 4

Neural mechanisms underlying neurooptometric rehabilitation following traumatic brain injury

Authors Hudac C , Kota, Nedrow, Molfese D

Received 12 October 2011

Accepted for publication 25 November 2011

Published 19 January 2012 Volume 2012:4 Pages 1—12

DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/EB.S27290

Review by Single anonymous peer review

Peer reviewer comments 4



Caitlin M Hudac1, Srinivas Kota1, James L Nedrow2, Dennis L Molfese1,3
1Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2Oculi Vision Rehabilitation, 3Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE

Abstract: Mild to severe traumatic brain injuries have lasting effects on everyday functioning. Issues relating to sensory problems are often overlooked or not addressed until well after the onset of the injury. In particular, vision problems related to ambient vision and the magnocellular pathway often result in posttrauma vision syndrome or visual midline shift syndrome. Symptoms from these syndromes are not restricted to the visual domain. Patients commonly experience proprioceptive, kinesthetic, vestibular, cognitive, and language problems. Neurooptometric rehabilitation often entails the use of corrective lenses, prisms, and binasal occlusion to accommodate the unstable magnocellular system. However, little is known regarding the neural mechanisms engaged during neurooptometric rehabilitation, nor how these mechanisms impact other domains. Event-related potentials from noninvasive electrophysiological recordings can be used to assess rehabilitation progress in patients. In this case report, high-density visual event-related potentials were recorded from one patient with posttrauma vision syndrome and secondary visual midline shift syndrome during a pattern reversal task, both with and without prisms. Results indicate that two factors occurring during the end portion of the P148 component (168–256 milliseconds poststimulus onset) map onto two separate neural systems that were engaged with and without neurooptometric rehabilitation. Without prisms, neural sources within somatosensory, language, and executive brain regions engage inefficient magnocellular system processing. However, when corrective prisms were worn, primary visual areas were appropriately engaged. The impact of using early neurooptometric rehabilitation for posttrauma vision syndrome, visual midline shift syndrome, and other similar subtle vision disorders to support neural reorganization is discussed.

Keywords: traumatic brain injury, posttrauma vision syndrome, visual midline shift syndrome, visual event-related potentials, source localization, neural reorganization

Creative Commons License © 2012 The Author(s). This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License. By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms.