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Vision in developmental disorders: is there a dorsal stream deficit?
Emma J Grinter1, Murray T Maybery, David R Badcock
1School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, Perth, Western Australia, 6008, Australia. emmagrinter@graduate.uwa.edu.au
Brain Research Bulletin
|March 10, 2010
Summary
This review suggests that developmental disorders affecting vision, such as autism and dyslexia, often involve impairments in the dorsal visual stream. Some conditions may also show ventral stream deficits, indicating unique visual processing profiles.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Ophthalmology
Background:
- Developmental disorders can impact visual processing.
- The dorsal and ventral visual streams play distinct roles in visual perception.
- Understanding shared and unique visual deficits is crucial for diagnosis and intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate if developmental vision disorders share dorsal visual stream impairments.
- To review evidence for dorsal and ventral stream involvement in specific developmental conditions.
- To identify potential unique visual processing profiles.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review of existing literature.
- Analysis of studies assessing local and global visual processing.
- Focus on developmental dyslexia, autism spectrum disorders, developmental dyspraxia, Williams syndrome, and Fragile X syndrome.
Main Results:
- Evidence broadly supports dorsal visual stream impairment in developmental disorders.
- Some conditions also exhibit ventral stream deficits, suggesting distinct visual profiles.
- Local and global visual processing differences were assessed across conditions.
Conclusions:
- The dorsal visual stream is a common area of impairment in developmental vision disorders.
- Distinct patterns of visual stream involvement may differentiate certain conditions.
- Future research should utilize psychophysical measures to further investigate visual perception in these populations.
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