Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Jun 19;9(6):921.
doi: 10.3390/children9060921.

Visual Function and Neuropsychological Profile in Children with Cerebral Visual Impairment

Federica Morelli  1   2 , Giorgia Aprile  1 , Chiara Martolini  1 , Elena Ballante  3   4 , Lucrezia Olivier  1 , Elisa Ercolino  1 , Eleonora Perotto  1 , Sabrina Signorini  1
Affiliations

Visual Function and Neuropsychological Profile in Children with Cerebral Visual Impairment

Federica Morelli et al. Children (Basel). .

Abstract

Cerebral Visual Impairment (CVI) has become the leading cause of children’s visual impairment in developed countries. Since CVI may negatively affect neuropsychomotor development, an early diagnosis and characterization become fundamental to define effective habilitation approaches. To date, there is a lack of standardized diagnostic methods to assess CVI in children, and the role of visual functions in children’s neuropsychological profiles has been poorly investigated. In the present paper, we aim to describe the clinical and neuropsychological profiles and to investigate the possible effects of visual functions on neuropsychological performance of a cohort of children diagnosed with CVI. Fifty-one children with CVI were included in our retrospective analysis (inclusion criteria: verbal IQ > 70 in Wechsler scales; absence of significant ocular involvement). For each participant, we collected data on neuropsychological assessment (i.e., cognitive, cognitive visual, and learning abilities), basic visual functions (e.g., Best Corrected Visual Acuity—BCVA, contrast sensitivity, and ocular motor abilities) and global development features (e.g., neurological signs and motor development delay) based on standardized tests, according to patients’ ages. The results showed that oculomotor dysfunction involving saccades and smooth pursuit may be a core symptom of CVI and might have a significant impact on cognitive visual and other neuropsychological abilities. Furthermore, visual acuity and contrast sensitivity may influence cognitive, cognitive visual, and academic performances. Our findings suggest the importance of a comprehensive assessment of both visual and neuropsychological functions in children when CVI is suspected, which is needed to provide a more comprehensive functional profile and define the best habilitation strategy to sustain functional vision.

Keywords: cerebral visual impairment; development; functional vision; neuropsychological profile; reading; visual function.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart of the retrospective cohort study.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Sakki H.E.A., Dale N.J., Sargent J., Perez-roche T., Bowman R. Is there consensus in defining childhood cerebral visual impairment? A systematic review of terminology and definitions. Br. J. Ophthalmol. 2018;102:424–432. doi: 10.1136/bjophthalmol-2017-310694. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Fazzi E., Signorini S.G., Bova S.M., La Piana R., Ondei P., Bertone C., Misefari W., Bianchi P.E. Spectrum of Visual Disorders in Children With Cerebral Visual Impairment. J. Child Neurol. 2007;22:294–301. doi: 10.1177/08830738070220030801. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bauer C.M., Merabet L.B. Perspectives on Cerebral Visual Impairment. Semin. Pediatr. Neurol. 2019;31:1–2. doi: 10.1016/j.spen.2019.05.001. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Pehere N., Chougule P., Dutton G.N. Cerebral visual impairment in children: Causes and associated ophthalmological problems. Indian J. Ophthalmol. 2018;66:812–815. doi: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_1274_17. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Salati R., Borgatti R., Giammari G., Jacobson L. Oculomotor dysfunction in cerebral visual impairment following perinatal hypoxia. Dev. Med. Child Neurol. 2002;44:542–550. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8749.2002.tb00327.x. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources