Perceptual Learning as a Rehabilitation Approach to Enhance Motion Processing in Maculopathy Patients.

Purpose: Macular degeneration (MD) is a disease affecting the central retina and significantly impairing vision. Given the absence of a cure, rehabilitation strategies are vital for enhancing visual perception. Methods: This study introduces a perceptual learning (PL) protocol for MD patients, focusing on improving motion perception, a key ability for navigating environments and social interactions. Patients underwent four weeks of motion discrimination training, with pretraining and post-training functional magnetic resonance imaging scans to study the underlying neural mechanisms. We also assessed generalization to an untrained multiobject tracking task in a subset of participants. A control group, matched by age and gender with simulated scotomata, followed the same procedures. Results: Results in both groups indicated improved motion discrimination and increased responses in the human middle temporal complex (hMT+), a critical neural hub for motion processing. Improvements in the multiobject tracking task suggested transferable learning effects. Conclusions: These findings highlight perceptual learning as a promising rehabilitation strategy for MD and potentially other eye conditions.