Can a Brain be Taught to See After Stroke or Traumatic Brain Injury?
New research supports vision restoration therapy can help people who have lost vision due to stroke or traumatic brain injury (TBI). Visual field defects are common after stroke, affecting between 8 and 25% of all stroke survivors. The impact of visual field deficits acquired due to stroke and TBI is significant. People with these deficits experience impaired reading and driving, poor mobility and collisions. In the past, there was no treatment for people suffering visual field loss from stroke or TBI. Now there is hope. In 2003, NovaVision launched the VRT (Vision Restoration System), a home-based treatment system designed to expand the visual field by stimulating the border zone between the blind and seeing fields. Using this technology the brain and the eye can be retrained to see again. VRT is based on the principle of neuroplasticity – the ability of the brain to repair itself to compensate for injury. After VRT therapy, patients experience an increase in the size of their visual
