Visual search and reading in patients with macular degeneration - eye movements and mathematical modelling

由于黄斑变性导致黄斑中心凹视力的进行性丧失，为了减少视觉和认知能力的损害，必须进行重组过程。计划中的联合项目的目的是调查不同描述水平的视觉缺陷和补偿性适应过程，即认知和皮质。本项目将阐明黄斑病变对视觉搜索和阅读的影响，这两个过程都涉及视觉空间注意和其他认知控制过程的复杂交互作用，并且与日常生活密切相关。我们的研究问题是：MD患者在视觉搜索和阅读中经历的行为障碍的详细性质是什么？霍夫曼项目研究的视网膜和/或视皮层的神经解剖学和神经生理学变化与这些损伤有何关系？患者在视觉搜索和阅读中发展了哪些补偿策略来处理他们的损伤，这些策略的功能如何，它们可能是如何在神经解剖学上反映出来的？我们计划主要通过收集心理物理和眼动数据以及对这些数据进行数学建模来解决这些问题。此外，模型将用于将主动视觉中的缺陷和补偿策略与在其他两个参与项目中获得的多模式成像结果联系起来。

As consequence of the progredient loss of foveal vision due to macular degeneration, processes of reorganization have to take place in order to reduce the impairment of visual and cognitive capacities. The aim of the planned joint project is to investigate visual deficiencies and compensatory adaptation processes at different levels of description, i.e. cognitive and cortical. The present project will elucidate the impact of macular pathology on visual search and reading, which both involve complex interactions of visuospatial attention and other cognitive control processes, and are of great relevance to everyday life. Our research questions are: What is the detailed nature of the behavioral impairments MD patients experience in visual search and reading? How can these impairments be related to neuroanatomical and neurophysiological changes in the retina and/or the visual cortex as investigated by the Hoffmann project? Which compensatory strategies in visual search and reading do patients develop in order to deal with their impairments, how functional are these, and how are they possibly neuroanatomically reflected? We plan to address these questions mainly by collecting psychophysical and eyemovement data and by mathematical modelling of these data. In addition, models will be used to relate deficits and compensatory strategies in active vision to the multimodal imaging results obtained in the two other participating projects.