Perceptual Learning as a Rehabilitation Approach to Enhance Motion Processing in Maculopathy Patients

Macular degeneration (MD) is a disease affecting the central retina and significantly impairing vision. Given the absence of a cure, rehabilitation strategies are vital for enhancing visual perception.

This study introduces a perceptual learning (PL) protocol for MD patients, focusing on improving motion perception, a key ability for navigating environments and social interactions. Patients underwent four weeks of motion discrimination training, with pretraining and post-training functional magnetic resonance imaging scans to study the underlying neural mechanisms. We also assessed generalization to an untrained multiobject tracking task in a subset of participants. A control group, matched by age and gender with simulated scotomata, followed the same procedures.

Results in both groups indicated improved motion discrimination and increased responses in the human middle temporal complex (hMT+), a critical neural hub for motion processing. Improvements in the multiobject tracking task suggested transferable learning effects.

These findings highlight perceptual learning as a promising rehabilitation strategy for MD and potentially other eye conditions.