Fahr's disease is a rare neurodegenerative disorder. Most commonly transmitted as autosomal dominant trait. The clinical course of the disease has a degenerative component ,often slowly progressive ...and lasting for many years. Although behavioural impairments and dementia is a common manifestation, we report this case of Fahr's disease in a young female with secondary amenorrhea and sudden onset loss of vision which is a very rare presentation.
Blind individuals have superior abilities to perform perceptual tasks that rely on exteroceptive information, since visual deprivation is associated with heightened cross-modal plasticity. However, ...it is unknown whether neuroplasticity after visual loss also affects interoception, that is, the sensations arising from one's inner organs that convey information about the physiological state of the body. Herein, we examine the influence of blindness on cardiac interoception, which is an interoceptive submodality that has important links to emotional processing and bodily self-awareness. We tested 36 blind and 36 age- and sex-matched sighted volunteers and examined their cardiac interoceptive ability using the heartbeat counting task. The results showed that blind individuals had significantly higher accuracy in perceiving their heartbeat than did individuals in a matched sighted control group. In contrast, there were no significant differences between the groups in the metacognitive dimensions of cardiac interoception or the purely physiological measurement of heart rate, thereby underscoring that the improved accuracy likely reflects a superior perceptual sensitivity to cardiac interoceptive signals in blind individuals. We conclude that visual deprivation leads to an enhanced ability to count one's own heartbeats, which has important implications for the study of the extent of cross-modal plasticity after visual loss, understanding emotional processing in blind individuals, and learning how bodily self-awareness can develop and be sustained in the absence of visual experience.
Public Significance StatementWe found that blind individuals are better than sighted at counting their own heartbeats. This suggests that brain plasticity following blindness leads to superior ability in sensing signals from the heart, which has implications for the study of bodily awareness and emotional processing in blind individuals.
Mahendra Singh,1 Ashish Chander,2 Suraj Kumar Chaurasiya,1 Radhika3 1Department of Optometry and Vision Science, CL Gupta Eye Institute, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, 244001, India; 2Department of ...Ophthalmology. Teerthanker Mahaveer University, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, 244001, India; 3Department of Optometry and Vision Science, Uttaranchal (PG) College of Biosciences and Hospitals, Dehradun, Uttrakhand, 248002, IndiaCorrespondence: Mahendra Singh, C L Gupta Eye Institute, Ram Ganga Vihar Phase II (Extn.), Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, 244001, India, Tel +91-6395586269, Email optommahendrasing@gmail.com
History at the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) Irwin founds the collection Robert B. Irwin began advocating for a research library on visual impairment in 1926, 4 years before his promotion ...to executive director of the AFB. Irwin donated his personal collection, other donors followed suit, and the library numbered 800 volumes within 2 years. Because of the rapid growth of the collection, Irwin hired a librarian named Helga Lende in 1929. “With APH’s popular annual meeting and its connection to a number of university preparation programs, we are confident these important books will continue to educate people in our field for years to come” (AFB eNews, 2009). High-quality photography produces such clear images that sighted users can view the imperfections of the aging paper without experiencing the brittleness. Because of the work that Internet Archive does to provide formats such as Daisy, EPub, and read-aloud full-text, thousands of digitized items can be accessed for free by visually impaired individuals.
The aim of this study was to analyze and compare the body composition and the somatotype of blind athletes of 5-a-side football of high-performance in different positions in play. Participated in ...this research 63 blind athletes (28.0 ± 5.8 years) from male of teams of 5-a-side football of high-performance.The athletes underwent an anthropometric evaluation to obtain the following measurements: skinfold thickness, body perimeters, bone diameters, height and total body mass. From these measurements, the following parameters were calculated: body fat percentage, lean mass percentage, Σ of the 9 skinfolds, body mass index and somatotype. Wing athletes showed a significant difference (p <0.05) with lower values for % G (17.4%) compared to fixed athletes (23.1%) and pivots (21.5%). A meso-endomorphic somatotype profile was obtained, with a predominance of the muscular component in the team and in all positions in play. The knowledge of body composition and somatotype of these blind athletes of 5-a-side footballcan contribute to guidance and monitoring of training, favoring sports performance.
El objetivo de este estudio fue analizary comparar la composición corporal y el somatotipo de atletas ciegos de fútbol 5 de alto rendimiento de diferentes posiciones de juego. Participaron de esta investigación 63 atletas (28,0±5,8años) de diferentes equipos masculinos defútbol5 de alto rendimiento. Los atletas fueron sometidos a una evaluación antropométrica a fin de para obtener las medidas: espesor de pliegues cutáneos, perímetros corporales, diámetros óseos, estatura y masa corporal total. A partir de estas medidas fueron calculados los siguientes parámetros: porcentaje de grasa corporal y porcentaje de masa magra, Σ de 9 pliegues cutáneos, índice de masa corporal y somatotipo. Los jugadores Alas presentaron valores inferiores en porcentaje de grasa (%G=17,4%) en comparación con los atletas Cierre (23,1%) y Pivot (21,5%), ambos con diferencia significativa (p<0,05). Se obtuvo un perfil somatotpio meso-endomorfo con predominancia del componente muscular, tanto para el grupo general como separadamente por posiciones de juego. El conocimiento de la composición corporal y del somatotipo de estos atletas de fútbol5 podrá contribuir hacia la orientación y el monitoreo de entrenamientos, favoreciendo el rendimiento deportivo.
Reliable differentiation of visual-perceptual difficulties in children with and without cerebral visual impairment (CVI) can often pose a diagnostic challenge. We, therefore, assessed the ...visual-perceptual profile in 94 children with and 77 children without suspected CVI between the ages of 8 and 17 years in a non-clinical setting, using a screening questionnaire and standardized visual-perceptual tests. Children with suspected CVI reported more frequently greater visual difficulties, had lower visual acuity, and were significantly impaired in visual search tests, in visual form and object perception, in visual space perception, and in visual text processing. There were no significant differences between groups in stereopsis, fixation stability, motility, horizontal saccadic eye movements, and convergence and accommodation. Cognitive performance in auditory attention and verbal short-term and working memory was similar in both groups. Our results indicate that the use of an appropriate questionnaire and specific visual-perceptual tests enables valid diagnostic detection of CVI. The additional use of cognitive tests also allows differentiation between primary and secondary impairments in visual perception.
The occurrence of age-related vision changes is inevitable. However, some of these changes can become pathological. Research indicates that vision and hearing loss is correlated with age-related ...cognitive decline, and with a higher risk of developing dementia due to Alzheimer's disease. Low vision rehabilitation could possibly be a protective factor against cognitive decline, as it provides the clients with compensatory strategies to overcome their visual deficits.
The aim of this pilot study was to assess correlations between visual and cognitive functions in older adults referred for low vision rehabilitation. We hypothesized that more severe impairment of visual acuity and contrast sensitivity would be correlated with more advanced levels of cognitive impairment. The second objective was to examine which of these correlations would remain significant once established variables that influence cognition are statistically removed (e.g., age, education).
Thirty-eight older adults (age range: 66-97 years old) with a visual impairment (acuity <20/70) were recruited before the onset of their low vision rehabilitation. They underwent vision (reading acuity, reading speed, contrast sensitivity), hearing (audiogram, speech-in-noise perception) and cognitive (global cognition, memory, executive functions) testing, and demographic information was obtained.
Correlations among global cognition and visual aid use, memory and reading speed, memory and contrast sensitivity, memory, and visual aid use, and between executive functions and contrast sensitivity were significant. Correlations between contrast sensitivity and memory, as well as between global cognition and visual aid use remained significant after controlling for age and education. The present study is relevant to clinicians who are assessing the cognitive status of older adults, such as neuropsychologists, because it highlights the importance of considering low vision when administering neuropsychological tests, especially to persons who have not yet received rehabilitation for their visual impairment.
The association between availability of eye care clinicians and visual impairment, a condition presenting with increased morbidity and health care costs, has not been thoroughly studied.
To examine ...associations between the geographic distribution of eye care clinicians and visual impairment in California.
This survey-based cross-sectional study included ophthalmologists and optometrists licensed in California in 2018 and 2020 as well as respondents to the 2014 to 2018 American Community Survey (ACS) by California counties and Medical Service Study Areas (MSSAs). Data were analyzed from August 2020 to December 2021.
Prevalence of visual impairment by county and MSSA.
The number of eye care clinicians was determined based on the number of member ophthalmologists of the American Academy of Ophthalmology in 2018 and optometrists listed in the 2020 Blue Book of Optometrists in California. The prevalence of visual impairment was determined using questionnaire data from the American Community Survey. Linear regression was used to assess multivariable associations between number of eye care clinicians and visual impairment by MSSA.
A total of 30 068 581 California residents were included; 15 253 655 (50.7%) were female, and 5 314 389 (17.7%) were 65 years and older. The overall number of eye care clinicians was 22.18 clinicians per 100 000 residents. The overall prevalence of visual impairment was 2411.07 residents with visual impairment per 100 000 residents. San Francisco County had the highest number of eye care clinicians per 100 000 residents (39.24 clinicians per 100 000 residents). Four counties had no eye care clinicians (Alpine, Mariposa, Inyo, and Sierra counties). For every increase of 1 eye care clinician per 100 000 residents, there was a mean (SE) decrease of 3.90 (1.39) persons with visual impairment per 100 000 residents in adjusted analyses.
In this cross-sectional study, a higher number of eye care clinicians was potentially associated with lower prevalence of visual impairment in California. Additional studies are needed to assess eye care clinician availability on a national and global scale and strategies to improve access to eye care.
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