Motion-Based Acuity Task: Full Visual Field Measurement of Shape and Motion Perception.

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Neuroscience
• Visual Science

Background:

• Retinal damage impacts both local visual features and unaffected areas.
• Current ophthalmological assessments often separate central (shape) and peripheral (motion/space) vision, relying on static stimuli.
• Acuity tasks typically use stationary stimuli, limiting comprehensive vision assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the benefits of simultaneously measuring shape and motion perception.
• To introduce and evaluate a new motion-based acuity task for comprehensive vision assessment.
• To investigate the potential of this task in detecting spared visual functions in patients with retinal diseases.

Main Methods:

• Developed a motion-based acuity task using random-dot kinematograms (RDKs) with varying motion contrast and velocity.
• Tested shape and motion perception simultaneously by having participants distinguish circles from ellipses.
• Included healthy controls (with artificially narrowed visual fields) and patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and Stargardt disease (STGD).

Main Results:

• High velocity and negative contrast motion signals proved most challenging for all participants.
• Patients with Stargardt disease (STGD) found high-velocity, negative contrast tasks too difficult.
• Slower motion velocities significantly improved acuity performance across all participant groups.

Conclusions:

• The proposed acuity testing offers a comprehensive assessment of vision, surpassing standard methods.
• This task has the potential to identify subtle or previously undetected visual functions.
• The motion-based acuity task is a practical tool for evaluating vision loss and understanding the injured visual system's capabilities.