Multisensory training improves the development of spatial cognition after sight restoration from congenital cataracts

Published: 9 February 2024| Version 1 | DOI: 10.17632/mf48nrdf55.1
Contributor:
Irene Senna

Description

In the present study, we developed and applied a multisensory training procedure to improve space representation and mobility in children and adolescents who have been surgically treated for congenital cataracts several years after birth. The training associated augmented audio-visual feedback with body movements. Ethiopian cataract-treated participants improved their space representation and their ability to navigate the environment after only one week of training. The improvement was comparable to that of a group of blind children, who underwent a training procedure that coupled their movements with auditory feedback alone. The present findings suggest that spatial cognition and sensorimotor spatial skills can be enhanced by a targeted training program which strengthens the natural association between bodily movements and their sensory feedback (in this case, either auditory or audio-visual augmented feedback). We evaluated the effectiveness of the training via a series of tests administered to participants before and after the training. The present dataset includes all the data of cataract-treated participants (Post-op) and blind participants (Blind) before and after the training and includes a group of typically-sighted control participants (Sighted) and a group of visually-impaired controls (Blind and low-vision controls) who took part in control psychomotor activities. Each sheet of the Excel file reports all trials for each test (auditory and visual localization, auditory space bisection, mobility: reaching for sounds, mobility: time up and go, body midline, and grasping) for each of the 4 groups (Post-op, Blind, Sighted, Blind and low-vision controls). The last sheet reports the follow-up tests that we conducted on a subset of the participants. The legend for each test is reported in the first rows of each sheet.

Files

Institutions

Universitat Ulm

Categories

Cataract Surgery, Auditory Feedback, Behavior (Neuroscience), Visually Impaired as Vulnerable Population, Training, Sensorimotor Development

Licence