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HYPOTHESIS AND THEORY article

Front. Hum. Neurosci.
Sec. Sensory Neuroscience
Volume 18 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2024.1496811
This article is part of the Research Topic Visual Perception in Children and Adolescents with Visual Impairments View all 4 articles

Emulation of the subjective experience of visual dorsal stream dysfunction: a description of three in depth case studies

Provisionally accepted
Helen St Clair Tracy Helen St Clair Tracy 1*Nicola McDowell Nicola McDowell 2Gordon Neale Dutton Gordon Neale Dutton 3John Ravenscroft John Ravenscroft 4Isobel Hay Isobel Hay 5Andrew Blaikie Andrew Blaikie 1
  • 1 University of St Andrews, St Andrews, United Kingdom
  • 2 Massey University, Wellington, Manawatu-Wanganui, New Zealand
  • 3 Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
  • 4 University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
  • 5 Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary, Dumfries, Scotland, United Kingdom

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

    These case studies explore the subjective visual experiences of individuals with cerebral visual impairment (CVI), specifically dorsal stream dysfunction (DSD) characterized by simultanagnosia. Through three in-depth case studies, this work documents the challenges these individuals face when navigating cluttered environments. The individuals were asked to describe their visual experiences while watching videos of varying complexity, with the future aim of creating a simulation of simultanagnosia. This process revealed a dynamic constriction of their attentional visual fields as scene complexity increased, and vice versa. Notably, the volunteers experienced a phenomenon where their vision could "get stuck" on specific items, with an apparent concurrent reduction in their ability to perceive and describe visual information as visual clutter increased. These consistent observations indicate that the symptoms of simultanagnosia are not simply limited to perceiving one or two objects at a time but can vary dynamically in response to environmental complexity. They enhance our understanding of how DSD impacts visual search and perceptual experiences, prompting us to propose the term "simultanagnostic vision" to describe this more nuanced and dynamic manifestation of CVI. The results are critical for developing effective interventions and optimizing support strategies for individuals affected by DSD, particularly children at sensitive developmental stages. Furthermore, we recommend deeper investigation into how different visual processing streams in the brain interconnect and influence each other, which may open new avenues for targeted therapeutic interventions.

    Keywords: Cerebral visual impairment, CVI, simultanagnosia, simultanagnostic vision, Dorsal stream dysfunction

    Received: 15 Sep 2024; Accepted: 02 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 St Clair Tracy, McDowell, Dutton, Ravenscroft, Hay and Blaikie. 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: Helen St Clair Tracy, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, United Kingdom

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.