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M. B. Hymowitz, L. Huynh, R. Wong, S. Berger, H. Engel; Comparison of Visual Memory in Patients With Decreased Visual Acuity. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2007;48(13):3544.
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To determine whether individuals with decreased visual acuity demonstrate impaired visual memory. It is unknown whether or not patients with impaired vision suffer defects in visual memory formation. Visual memory is defective in patients with traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, and other forms of neurological disease. Patients with impaired vision have demonstrable functional deficits that can be qualified and quantified by standardized testing. We studied whether individuals with cataracts, age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, and amblyopia show reduced capacity to form visual memories.
This was a cross-sectional study involving volunteers, aged 18 - 69, from the Henkind Eye Institute, Bronx, New York. Individuals were grouped according to central acuity and visual field defects. Participants in the control group had visual acuity 20/50 or better and normal central fields. Individuals in the pathology group had visual acuity worse than 20/50 to 20/200 with eye disease or any central acuity better than 20/200 with a visual field defect. Participants were required to have an intact mental status as determined by the Mini-Mental State Examination. All volunteers underwent a complete ophthalmic examination, stereo-acuity testing, automated visual field testing, and fundus photography. Visual memory was tested using the Benton Visual Retention Test (BVRT), Fifth Edition, Administration A subset. Participants underwent monocular (right and left eyes individually) and binocular testing. Test plates were presented for 10 seconds. The 10 plates of figures in the BVRT were given both absolute scores (1 point for correct or 0 for incorrect) and relative scores as outlined in the administration manual. Scores were compared to normative data.
Seventy volunteers participated in the study. There was a significant difference (p<0.05) in scoring between individuals with visual acuity 20/50 or better and no visual field defects (mean score 6.16, standard deviation 2.23) and individuals with visual acuity worse than 20/50 to 20/200 and/or a central field defect (mean 3.75, standard deviation 2.33). Both study groups showed normal distribution curves.
Visual memory, as tested with the BRVT, is significantly impaired in patients with ocular and optic nerve disease.
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