Characterizing visual processing deficits in cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy.

Background And Objectives: Cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy (CALD) can cause visual impairment, but early symptoms are often missed or misdiagnosed. The framework of cerebral visual impairment (CVI) distinguishes deficits in sensory detection ("lower order") from those of perception and interpretation ("higher order"). This study describes visual deficits in patients with CALD and higher order visual function assessed with a virtual reality (VR) interface combined with eye tracking.

Urinary metabolite concentrations of phthalate and plasticizers in infancy and childhood in the UNC baby connectome project.

Introduction: Existing evidence suggests that exposure to phthalates is higher among younger age groups. However, limited knowledge exists on how phthalate exposure, as well as exposure to replacement plasticizers, di(isononyl) cyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxylate (DINCH) and di-2-ethylhexyl terephthalate (DEHTP), change from infancy through early childhood.

Methods: Urine samples were collected across the first 5 years of life from typically developing infants and young children enrolled between 2017 and 2020 in the longitudinal UNC Baby Connectome Project.

Visuospatial processing in early brain-based visual impairment is associated with differential recruitment of dorsal and ventral visual streams.

Visuospatial processing impairments are prevalent in individuals with cerebral visual impairment (CVI) and are typically ascribed to "dorsal stream dysfunction" (DSD). However, the contribution of other cortical regions, including early visual cortex (EVC), frontal cortex, or the ventral visual stream, to such impairments remains unknown. Thus, here, we examined fMRI activity in these regions, while individuals with CVI (and neurotypicals) performed a visual search task within a dynamic naturalistic scene.

Visual search patterns during exploration of naturalistic scenes are driven by saliency cues in individuals with cerebral visual impairment.

We investigated the relative influence of image salience and image semantics during the visual search of naturalistic scenes, comparing performance in individuals with cerebral visual impairment (CVI) and controls with neurotypical development. Participants searched for a prompted target presented as either an image or text cue. Success rate and reaction time were collected, and gaze behavior was recorded with an eye tracker.