Scanning behavior in hemianopia: The Next Step: A study protocol

Homonymous visual field defects (HVFDs) are the largest group of visual disorders after acquired brain injury. Homonymous Hemianopia (HH), the most common form of HVFD, occurs in 8-31% of all stroke patients. HH can have a large influence on daily living, quality of life and patient's participation in society. People with HH mainly experience difficulties in reading, orientation and mobility. They benefit from training aimed to decrease the impact of the visual field deficit through optimizing visual scanning. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to inform patients about the way their scanning behavior relates to difficulties they experience in daily life and how they can improve their scanning behavior to overcome these difficulties. Knowledge about which scanning behavior in different situations is optimal, however, is mostly based on experiences and assumptions of professionals, and not supported by scientific literature and empirical data. The current project (September 2019 to September 2023) aims to examine the relationship between scanning behavior and performance on various daily life activities (i.e. mobility and search activities) in people with HH, people with simulated HH and a control group with normal vision. Innovative techniques such as eye-tracking and Virtual Reality (VR) will be used to examine scanning behavior in a standardized manner. Prototypes of these techniques, developed in a pilot project, were seen as useful additions to vision rehabilitation therapy by people with HH and rehabilitation therapists. Apart from providing insight into scanning behavior and its relation with different task demands, this project will help to develop innovative measures for scanning behavior that can be used in clinical practice. Data-collection will begin in the autumn of 2020 and will end approximately two years later. The current project is a PhD project, which means that it will result in a PhD thesis with at least four publications in international, scientific and peer-reviewed journals