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Updated: Jul 13, 2026
09:47
A Method to Quantify Visual Information Processing in Children Using Eye Tracking
Published on: July 9, 2016
Children with spina bifida perceive visual illusions but not multistable figures
M Dennis1, T Rogers, M A Barnes
1Department of Psychology, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto.
Brain and Cognition
|August 31, 2001
Summary
Children with spina bifida perceive visual illusions normally but struggle with multistable figures, indicating potential top-down visual processing deficits rather than basic object perception issues.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Visual Perception
Background:
- Spina bifida is a congenital condition affecting neural development.
- Visual perception is crucial for cognitive development and interaction with the environment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare illusory perception in children with spina bifida and typically developing peers.
- To investigate the nature of visual processing deficits in spina bifida.
Main Methods:
- Comparative study involving 32 children with spina bifida and 32 age-matched controls.
- Assessment of performance on two types of illusory perception: visual illusions and multistable figures.
Main Results:
- Children with spina bifida demonstrated typical performance on visual illusions related to size, length, and area.
- Impaired perception of multistable figures, including those with figure-ground reversals and illusory contours, was observed in children with spina bifida.
Conclusions:
- Basic perceptual operations for local object coherence are intact in children with spina bifida.
- Visual perception impairments in spina bifida may stem from deficient top-down control from higher cortical areas to visual cortex representations.
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