Statistical Learning as a Novel Intervention for Cortical Blindness

January 28, 2026 updated by: Matthew Cavanaugh, University of Rochester
This project aims to develop a novel visual training paradigm for use in visually-intact participants and those sufferings from stroke-induced visual impairments. Our task design is built upon theories of statistical learning to reduce the overall training burden while still producing profound improvements to visual abilities. Efficacy will be first established in visually-intact controls before testing in stroke survivors to assess the feasibility of this form of learning in the damaged visual system.

Study Overview

Status

Enrolling by invitation

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

30

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • New York
      • Rochester, New York, United States, 14642
        • University of Rochester Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Cortically Blind participants

Inclusion criteria:

  • Between 21 and 75 years of age
  • Residents of the United States or Canada
  • Have successfully completed previous enrollment in Dr. Huxlin study (IRB #5966 or #75)
  • Exhibit unilateral stroke or stroke-like damage to primary visual cortex or its immediate afferent white matter sustained within the specified age range of 21 - 75 years (verified by MRI and/or CT scans)
  • Reliable visual field defects in both eyes (homonymous defects) as measured by Humphrey visual fields. This deficit must be large enough to enclose a 5-deg diameter visual stimulus.
  • Able to fixate on visual targets reliably for 1000ms within 1-deg of visual angle.
  • Willing, able, and competent to provide their own informed consent
  • Normal cognitive abilities and be able to understand written and oral instructions in English

Exclusion criteria:

  • Past or present ocular disease interfering with visual acuity
  • Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) worse than 20/40 in either eye
  • Sustained documented or suspected damage to the dorsal Lateral Geniculate Nucleus
  • Presence of diffuse whole brain degenerative processes
  • History of traumatic brain injury
  • Any other brain damage deemed by study staff to potentially interfere with training ability or outcome measures
  • Documented history of drug/alcohol abuse
  • Currently taking neuroactive medications which would impact training, as determined by PI
  • Cognitive or seizure disorders
  • One-sided attentional neglect
  • Those who lack the competence or are otherwise unable to perform the visual training exercises as directed.

Control participants

Inclusion criteria:

  • Between 21 and 75 years of age
  • No history of neurological disorder.
  • Competent and responsible, as determined by the screening interview

Exclusion criteria:

  • Any damage to the visual system
  • Those who are suffering from an active disease process involving their nervous system.
  • Presence of cognitive or seizure disorders
  • Best corrected visual acuity worse than 20/40 in either eye
  • Presence of visual field loss from ocular disease or disorder

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Basic Science
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Visual Training in Cortically Blind cohort
Device: Vision Training and Learning Task

Participants will be seated at a computer, and will be shown a random-noise visual stimulus drifting in one of eight directions. Participants will be instructed to indicate the direction of motion they perceive using a Sony Access Controller or a computer keyboard. Sound cues during stimulus presentation will also be used to ensure participants are aware of stimulus onset during the training task.

After several repetitions of this visual training, a second set of visual cues will be presented to evaluate participant's learning of the program. Responses will be provided in the same manner by input from the controller or the keyboard.
Experimental: Visual Training in Control cohort
Device: Vision Training and Learning Task

Participants will be seated at a computer, and will be shown a random-noise visual stimulus drifting in one of eight directions. Participants will be instructed to indicate the direction of motion they perceive using a Sony Access Controller or a computer keyboard. Sound cues during stimulus presentation will also be used to ensure participants are aware of stimulus onset during the training task.

After several repetitions of this visual training, a second set of visual cues will be presented to evaluate participant's learning of the program. Responses will be provided in the same manner by input from the controller or the keyboard.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Explicit Learning - Response Time
Time Frame: Baseline
Reaction time (ms) when performing motion discriminations for the final stimulus of a statistically-linked triplet will be compared against reaction times for stimuli with identical motion directions, presented with alternative placement within a triplet. Comparisons will be made only for correct responses in the final 20% of overall testing session trials.
Baseline
Implicit Learning - Triplet Familiarity
Time Frame: Baseline
Participant familiarity with statistically-linked triplets of motion will be assessed via a two-interval, forced-choice task. Familiarity will be measured as a percentage of comparisons in which the more prevalent triplet is selected as more familiar. Familiarity of high-probability, low-probability, and null-probability triplets will be compared following training.
Baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Rochester

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

November 6, 2024

Primary Completion (Estimated)

October 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

October 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 27, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 27, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

August 29, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 30, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 28, 2026

Last Verified

January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • STUDY00009495

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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