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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Hum. Neurosci.
Sec. Sensory Neuroscience
Volume 18 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2024.1496796
This article is part of the Research Topic Visual Perception in Children and Adolescents with Visual Impairments View all 6 articles

Gestalt, Navon and Kanizsa Illusion Processing in Children with CVI, ADHD and Dyslexia with Normal Verbal IQ

Provisionally accepted
Marinke J. Hokken Marinke J. Hokken 1,2*Ymie Van Der Zee Ymie Van Der Zee 2Rob Rodrigues Pereira Rob Rodrigues Pereira 3Ingrid G.I.J.G. Rours Ingrid G.I.J.G. Rours 3Maarten A Frens Maarten A Frens 1Hans van der Steen Hans van der Steen 1Johan JM Pel Johan JM Pel 1Marlou J.G. Kooiker Marlou J.G. Kooiker 1,2
  • 1 Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands
  • 2 Royal Dutch Visio, Huizen, Netherlands
  • 3 Kinderplein Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Global Visual Selective Attention (VSA) is the ability to integrate multiple visual elements of a scene to achieve visual overview. This is essential for navigating crowded environments and recognizing objects or faces. Clinical pediatric research on global VSA deficits primarily focuses on autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, in children with cerebral visual impairment (CVI) and other neurodevelopmental disorders (ADHD, dyslexia) similar deficits are reported. The aim of this study was to investigate global VSA performance in children with CVI, ADHD, dyslexia and neurotypical children by combing gaze-based measures with conventional neuropsychological tasks. We included children aged 6 - 12 years with CVI (n=20), ADHD (n=30), dyslexia (n=34) and neurotypical development (n=37), all with normal verbal IQ. Eye tracking measurements were stepwise introduced within three global VSA tasks: Gestalt Closure (no eye tracking), Navon stimuli (eye tracking-based qualitative analysis) and Kanizsa Illusory Contours (KIC; eye tracking-based quantitative analysis). Verbal responses were compared with non-verbal gaze behavior. Children with CVI had significantly lower success rates on Gestalt Closure recognition, prolonged verbal response times on Navon stimuli, and decreased verbal and gaze performance on the KIC task compared to all other groups, irrespective of visual acuity. Children with ADHD and dyslexia performed similar to neurotypical children on all tasks. The results suggest а distinct global VSA deficit in children with CVI, which aligns with clinical observations of symptoms in daily life. Incorporating gaze-based analyses provided new information about search strategies beyond verbal answers and made the KIC task more inclusive for children with language and motor disabilities. Assessing global VSA within clinical CVI assessments could improve the differential diagnostic evaluations among children with CVI, ADHD and dyslexia, leading to more personalized treatment approaches.

    Keywords: Cerebral visual impairment (CVI), Attention defici hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Dyslexia, Kanizsa illusory contours, Navon, Gestalt Closure, Global visual selective attention

    Received: 15 Sep 2024; Accepted: 09 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Hokken, Van Der Zee, Rodrigues Pereira, Rours, Frens, van der Steen, Pel and Kooiker. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Marinke J. Hokken, Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, NL-3015, Netherlands

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