Visual Cognition Alterations in Central Visual Impairment: A Multiple Case Study on Adolescents
(2026) PSYP01 20261Department of Psychology
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Cerebral visual impairment (CVI) is a brain-based neurodevelopmental disorder of visual processing caused by early injury to visual pathways and cortical areas. Visual processing relies on two anatomically and functionally distinct pathways originating in the primary visual cortex (V1): the dorsal ("where") stream, which processes spatial location, and the ventral ("what") stream, which processes object recognition. While
CVI frequently exhibits dorsal stream vulnerability (DSV), the relationship between retino-structural degeneration, central neuroplasticity, and behavioral deficits remains poorly understood. This Master’s thesis utilized an embedded multiple-case study design with participants diagnosed with CVI compared to their... (More) - Cerebral visual impairment (CVI) is a brain-based neurodevelopmental disorder of visual processing caused by early injury to visual pathways and cortical areas. Visual processing relies on two anatomically and functionally distinct pathways originating in the primary visual cortex (V1): the dorsal ("where") stream, which processes spatial location, and the ventral ("what") stream, which processes object recognition. While
CVI frequently exhibits dorsal stream vulnerability (DSV), the relationship between retino-structural degeneration, central neuroplasticity, and behavioral deficits remains poorly understood. This Master’s thesis utilized an embedded multiple-case study design with participants diagnosed with CVI compared to their neurotypical age-matched controls to address three primary research questions: (1) whether individuals with CVI demonstrate altered V1 population receptive field (pRF) sizes compared to age-matched controls, (2) how cortical pRF size expansion relates to retinal structural integrity and visual field defects, and (3) whether pRF enlargement maps onto distinct behavioral profiles characterized by dorsal-versus ventral-stream impairments. Participants underwent a multimodal assessment, including a Swedish adaptation of Dutton’s Questionnaire (evaluating behavioral dual-stream processing), spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT; measuring macular ganglion cell layer thickness), visual field perimetry, and 7 Tesla functional magnetic resonance imaging (7T fMRI) for V1 pRF mapping. Results revealed structure–function dissociations across modalities: macular GCL+ thinning showed no clear spatial concordance with visual field perimetric deficits, likely owing to measurement sensitivity disparities between modalities. Furthermore, rather than directly relating to dorsal-stream deficit severity, V1 pRF enlargement varied across participants, functioning more tentatively as a moderator of pathway asymmetry that may compensate for subcortical white matter damage in specific cases. High cohort heterogeneity, alongside dual-stream questionnaire classification limitations, mandates cautious interpretation of these findings. Overall, retino-structural degeneration and cortical adaptations appear to operate semi-
independently, demonstrating that single-modality metrics are insufficient to capture the variable presentation of CVI. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9252136
- author
- Smorczewska, Maria Barbara LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- PSYP01 20261
- year
- 2026
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Population Receptive Fields, Central Visual Impairment, Perception, Two-Stream Hypothesis, Optical Coherence Tomography, Visual Field
- language
- English
- id
- 9252136
- date added to LUP
- 2026-10-01 15:44:07
- date last changed
- 2026-10-01 15:44:07
@misc{9252136,
abstract = {{Cerebral visual impairment (CVI) is a brain-based neurodevelopmental disorder of visual processing caused by early injury to visual pathways and cortical areas. Visual processing relies on two anatomically and functionally distinct pathways originating in the primary visual cortex (V1): the dorsal ("where") stream, which processes spatial location, and the ventral ("what") stream, which processes object recognition. While
CVI frequently exhibits dorsal stream vulnerability (DSV), the relationship between retino-structural degeneration, central neuroplasticity, and behavioral deficits remains poorly understood. This Master’s thesis utilized an embedded multiple-case study design with participants diagnosed with CVI compared to their neurotypical age-matched controls to address three primary research questions: (1) whether individuals with CVI demonstrate altered V1 population receptive field (pRF) sizes compared to age-matched controls, (2) how cortical pRF size expansion relates to retinal structural integrity and visual field defects, and (3) whether pRF enlargement maps onto distinct behavioral profiles characterized by dorsal-versus ventral-stream impairments. Participants underwent a multimodal assessment, including a Swedish adaptation of Dutton’s Questionnaire (evaluating behavioral dual-stream processing), spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT; measuring macular ganglion cell layer thickness), visual field perimetry, and 7 Tesla functional magnetic resonance imaging (7T fMRI) for V1 pRF mapping. Results revealed structure–function dissociations across modalities: macular GCL+ thinning showed no clear spatial concordance with visual field perimetric deficits, likely owing to measurement sensitivity disparities between modalities. Furthermore, rather than directly relating to dorsal-stream deficit severity, V1 pRF enlargement varied across participants, functioning more tentatively as a moderator of pathway asymmetry that may compensate for subcortical white matter damage in specific cases. High cohort heterogeneity, alongside dual-stream questionnaire classification limitations, mandates cautious interpretation of these findings. Overall, retino-structural degeneration and cortical adaptations appear to operate semi-
independently, demonstrating that single-modality metrics are insufficient to capture the variable presentation of CVI.}},
author = {{Smorczewska, Maria Barbara}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Visual Cognition Alterations in Central Visual Impairment: A Multiple Case Study on Adolescents}},
year = {{2026}},
}