The Developmental Eye Movement Test Does Not Detect Oculomotor Problems: Evidence from Children with Nystagmus.

Significance: The Developmental Eye Movement (DEM) test, a test purported to assess oculomotor skills, does not detect eye movement disorder in nystagmus syndromes. The test should not be used for the clinical evaluation of oculomotor disorders.

Purpose: The DEM test ratio compares a horizontal number naming subtest with a vertical one to identify oculomotor problems independent of a child's visual-verbal naming skills.

The speed acuity test as a diagnostic aid in cerebral visual impairment.

One of the characteristics of children with cerebral visual impairments (CVI) is that they need more time to process visual information. However, currently, few tests are available that can reliably measure visual processing speed. The speed acuity test, a discrimination reaction-time test in which participants indicate the orientation of Landolt-C symbols as quickly and accurately as possible, was specifically developed to determine the time a child needs to discern visual details.

The Developmental Eye Movement Test as a Diagnostic Aid in Cerebral Visual Impairment.

The symptoms that characterize children with cerebral visual impairments (CVI) are diverse, ranging from extensive behavioral or physical disabilities to subtle changes that can easily be missed. A correct diagnosis of CVI is therefore difficult to make, but having a wide variety of tests available can be helpful. This study aims to determine if the developmental eye movement test (DEM) can be one of those tests.

One-year effects of bifocal and unifocal glasses on executive functions in children with Down syndrome in a randomized controlled trial.

Appropriate glasses can improve visual functioning of children with Down syndrome (DS), but it is unknown if such interventions influence their cognitive impairments. In a randomized controlled trial with 1-year follow-up. Children with DS (2-16 years) were provided either bifocal glasses (add +2.

Differences between children with Down syndrome and typically developing children in adaptive behaviour, executive functions and visual acuity.

In children with Down syndrome (DS) development of visual, motor and cognitive functions is atypical. It is unknown whether the visual impairments in children with DS aggravate their lag in cognitive development. Visual impairment and developmental lags in adaptive behaviour and executive functions were assessed in 104 children with DS, 2-16 years, by comparing their adaptive behaviour, executive functions and visual acuity (distant and near) scores against published age-matched norm scores of typically developing children.

Visual fixations rather than saccades dominate the developmental eye movement test.

When children have visual and/or oculomotor deficits, early diagnosis is critical for rehabilitation. The developmental eye movement (DEM) test is a visual-verbal number naming test that aims to measure oculomotor dysfunction in children by comparing scores on a horizontal and vertical subtest. However, empirical comparison of oculomotor behavior during the two subtests is missing.

Specificity and retention of visual perceptual learning in young children with low vision.

There is evidence that a pen-and-paper training based on perceptual learning principles improves near visual acuity in young children with visual impairment. The aim of the present study is to measure specificity and retention of its training effects during one year. Sixteen visually impaired children aged 4-8 years were divided in two age- and acuity-matched groups: an early (n = 9) and late treatment group (n = 7).

LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF RPE65-ASSOCIATED INHERITED RETINAL DEGENERATIONS.

Purpose: To study the disease course of RPE65-associated inherited retinal degenerations (IRDs) as a function of the genotype, define a critical age for blindness, and identify potential modifiers.

Methods: Forty-five patients with IRD from 33 families with biallelic RPE65 mutations, 28 stemming from a genetic isolate. We collected retrospective data from medical charts.

Bifocals reduce strabismus in children with Down syndrome: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial.

Purpose: Children with Down syndrome (DS) more often have strabismus, refractive errors, accommodative lags and reduced visual acuity (VA) than typically developing children. In this study, we compare the effects of bifocal glasses with those of unifocal glasses in children with DS. Changes in angle of strabismus, accommodation and refractive error were analysed in this paper.

Saccade latencies during a preferential looking task and objective scoring of grating acuity in children with and without visual impairments.

Purpose: We determined the latencies of orienting responses during a preferential looking task in children with normal vision and in children with visual impairments between 6 and 12 years old, and assessed the feasibility of scoring grating detection in these populations with video-based eye tracking.

Methods: Children performed a computerized preferential looking test, while a remote eye tracker measured the children's eye movements. The stimuli consisted of a 2 × 2 grid, with three uniform grey fields and one target field consisting of a black-and-white square wave grating.

Effects of bifocals on visual acuity in children with Down syndrome: a randomized controlled trial.

Purpose: Children with Down syndrome (DS) typically have reduced visual acuity (VA) and accommodation lag, but it is unclear whether prescribed glasses should correct both distance VA (DVA) and near VA (NVA) due to the lack of RCTs. We therefore conducted a multicentre RCT to compare the effects of bifocals designed to correct both DVA and NVA with distance-correcting unifocal glasses in children with DS.

Methods: A total of 119 children with DS, aged 2-16, were randomly allocated for bifocal or unifocal glasses (with full correction of refraction error in cycloplegia) in 14 Dutch hospitals and followed during 1 year.

Development of Symbol Discrimination Speed in Children With Normal Vision.

Purpose: Many visually guided tasks require rapid perception of visual details, but how fast children can discern foveal stimuli and how this ability improves with age are still unknown. To fill this gap, we tested normally sighted children between 5 and 12 years of age with a combined symbol-discrimination reaction-time test.

Methods: Children (n = 94) had to indicate, as fast and accurately as possible, the orientation of a Landolt C symbol (90 trials).

Symbol Discrimination Speed in Children With Visual Impairments.

Purpose: We measured visual acuity and visual discrimination speed simultaneously in children with visual impairments to determine whether they are slower than children with normal vision.

Methods: Five- to twelve-year-old children with visual impairments due to ocular dysfunction (VIo; n = 30) or cerebral visual impairment (CVI; n = 17) performed a speed-acuity test in which they indicated the orientation of Landolt-C symbols as quickly and accurately as possible. The reaction times for symbols ranging between -0.

Useful field of view test performance throughout adulthood in subjects without ocular disorders.

Previous research has shown an age-related decline in Useful Field of View (UFOV) test performance, which measures the duration required to extract relevant information from a scene in three subtasks. However, these results are mostly based on data that may have been confounded by (age-related) ocular diseases. We examined UFOV performance in subjects aged 19.

Development and validation of a high-speed stereoscopic eyetracker.

Traditional video-based eyetrackers require participants to perform an individual calibration procedure, which involves the fixation of multiple points on a screen. However, certain participants (e.g.

A meta-analysis of perceptual and cognitive functions involved in useful-field-of-view test performance.

The useful-field-of-view (UFOV) test measures the amount of information someone can extract from a visual scene in one glance. Its scores show relatively strong relationships with everyday activities. The UFOV test consists of three computer tests, suggested to measure processing speed and central vision, divided attention, and selective attention.

CORRIGENDUM: The expanding clinical phenotype of Bosch-Boonstra-Schaaf optic atrophy syndrome: 20 new cases and possible genotype-phenotype correlations.

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/gim.2016.

Assessment of near visual acuity in 0-13 year olds with normal and low vision: a systematic review.

Background: The inclusion for rehabilitation of visually impaired children is partly based on the measurement of near vision, but guidelines for near visual acuity assessment are currently lacking. The twofold purpose of this systematic review was to: (i) provide an overview of the impact of the chart design on near visual acuity measured, and (ii) determine the method of choice for near vision assessments in children of different developmental ages.

Methods: A literature search was conducted by using the following electronic databases: PubMed, Cochrane Library, and EMBASE.

The expanding clinical phenotype of Bosch-Boonstra-Schaaf optic atrophy syndrome: 20 new cases and possible genotype-phenotype correlations.

Purpose: Bosch-Boonstra-Schaaf optic atrophy syndrome (BBSOAS) is an autosomal-dominant disorder characterized by optic atrophy and intellectual disability caused by loss-of-function mutations in NR2F1. We report 20 new individuals with BBSOAS, exploring the spectrum of clinical phenotypes and assessing potential genotype-phenotype correlations.

Methods: Clinical features of individuals with pathogenic NR2F1 variants were evaluated by review of medical records.

Perceptual Learning in Children With Infantile Nystagmus: Effects on Reading Performance.

Purpose: Perceptual learning improves visual acuity and reduces crowding in children with infantile nystagmus (IN). Here, we compare reading performance of 6- to 11-year-old children with IN with normal controls, and evaluate whether perceptual learning improves their reading.

Methods: Children with IN were divided in two training groups: a crowded training group (n = 18; albinism: n = 8; idiopathic IN: n = 10) and an uncrowded training group (n = 17; albinism: n = 9; idiopathic IN: n = 8).

Perceptual Learning in Children With Infantile Nystagmus: Effects on 2D Oculomotor Behavior.

Purpose: To determine changes in oculomotor behavior after 10 sessions of perceptual learning on a letter discrimination task in children with infantile nystagmus (IN).

Methods: Children with IN (18 children with idiopathic IN and 18 with oculocutaneous albinism accompanied by IN) aged 6 to 11 years were divided into two training groups matched on diagnosis: an uncrowded training group (n = 18) and a crowded training group (n = 18). Target letters always appeared briefly (500 ms) at an eccentric location, forcing subjects to quickly redirect their gaze.

Perceptual Learning in Children With Infantile Nystagmus: Effects on Visual Performance.

Purpose: To evaluate whether computerized training with a crowded or uncrowded letter-discrimination task reduces visual impairment (VI) in 6- to 11-year-old children with infantile nystagmus (IN) who suffer from increased foveal crowding, reduced visual acuity, and reduced stereopsis.

Methods: Thirty-six children with IN were included. Eighteen had idiopathic IN and 18 had oculocutaneous albinism.

Shape of magnifiers affects controllability in children with visual impairment.

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the controllability of cylinder-shaped and dome-shaped magnifiers in young children with visual impairment.

Methods: This study investigates goal-directed arm movements in low-vision aid use (stand and dome magnifier-like object) in a group of young children with visual impairment (n = 56) compared to a group of children with normal sight (n = 66). Children with visual impairment and children with normal sight aged 4-8 years executed two types of movements (cyclic and discrete) in two orientations (vertical or horizontal) over two distances (10 cm and 20 cm) with two objects resembling the size and shape of regularly prescribed stand and dome magnifiers.