RIT Researcher Earns Award for Cortical Blindness Research

RIT researcher receives award to advance the study of cortical blindness
Cortical blindness affects nearly half a million stroke patients in the US each year
The research team aims to develop new rehabilitation methods for people with cortical blindness

Gabriel Diaz, an associate professor at the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science at the Rochester Institute of Technology, has been awarded the Research to Prevent Blindness/Lions Clubs International Foundation Low Vision Research Award (LVRA) in collaboration with researchers from the University of Rochester.

This annual award supports groundbreaking research that demonstrates unconventional thinking and focuses on understanding the visual system’s response to severe and chronic visual loss. Diaz and his team are dedicated to studying the impact of cortical blindness on the processing of visual information that is crucial for tasks such as driving.

Cortical blindness is a condition that affects nearly half a million stroke patients in the United States each year, significantly affecting their independence and overall quality of life.

Previous research on cortical blindness has predominantly concentrated on its impact on basic visual skills, such as the ability to discern subtle motion patterns in the blind field.

However, these studies often utilized methods that did not faithfully replicate the real-life challenges faced by individuals with cortical blindness. In contrast, Gabriel Diaz’s research will employ virtual reality simulations to provide a more accurate representation of the visual difficulties encountered in everyday life.

Study participants will engage in a simulated driving task, using a steering wheel to maintain a virtual vehicle’s position within a winding roadway set amidst fields and wooded areas.