2007 Summer Institute: Visual Perception and Cognition Conference

Gordon Legge
University of Minnesota

Neuroplasticity in Response to Vision Loss: Implications for Reading Performance

     Nearly four million Americans have impaired vision, and most of them encounter problems with reading. Three generic types of vision loss explain most of these reading deficits- reduced acuity, reduced contrast sensitivity and central-field loss. I will discuss psychophysical studies describing the roles of these factors in reading. I will also discuss ongoing fMRI studies addressing how the visual cortex adapts to these three types of visual impairment.