Preferred retinal loci and macular scotoma characteristics in patients with age-related macular degeneration.

Many patients with macular scotomas due to age-related macular degeneration do not perceive black spots in the visual field where the scotomas are located. Rather, they describe objects as "vanishing," "jumping out of nowhere" or "having blurry parts," or a combination of features. In addition, when the macular scotoma affects the fovea, the visual system uses 1 or more preferred retinal loci (PRLs) as a "pseudofovea" to perform visual tasks.