Neurofeedback-based Visual Restoration Therapy (ReViseNetFeed)

Adrian Guggisberg

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Visual Field Defect Homonymous Bilateral

Treatments: Procedure: neurofeedback

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT07237412

2025-00765

Details and patient eligibility

About

Visual field defects are a common consequence of acquired brain injuries and affect people of all ages. These vision problems make everyday life more difficult-for example, when reading, driving, or moving around safely. However, there is currently no effective therapy to improve visual field defects.

Previous training methods have focused on maximizing brain activity during a task. However, new findings show that the best performance is achieved when the brain is already in a state of high communication before the task. Our research shows that people can learn to increase communication between brain regions through neurofeedback.

Studies have shown that neurofeedback can help people after a stroke: it improves the coordination of brain areas that are important for movement, thereby helping to increase mobility. Building on these findings, this study investigates whether EEG neurofeedback can support the visual centers in the brain to improve vision in patients with chronic visual field defects. The main objective of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of neurofeedback in improving visual field defects. More specifically, the investigators are investigating the development of visual ability (expansion of the visual field, contrast sensitivity).

Enrollment: 14 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 50 to 70 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Chronic, stable HVFD (homologous lateral quadranopsia or hemianopsia)
• 12 months or more after stroke
• Age range 50-70
• Ability to provide informed consent

Exclusion criteria

• Inability to concentrate for long treatment sessions
• Eye disease with impact on visual field or acuity
• Presence of non-MRI safe metal in the body
• New stroke during study period
• Hemispatial neglect

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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14 participants in 2 patient groups

Active phase

Active Comparator group

Description:

During the active phase, patients will receive real-time audio feedback on spontaneous alpha-band functional connectivity between ipsilesional associative visual areas and the rest of the brain. This will allow them to learn to improve their pathological brain interactions. The neurofeedback training will last about 40 minutes, with frequent breaks. It will be followed by visual stimulation of the affected visual field according to recommendations for inducing steady-state visual evoked potentials.

Treatment:

Procedure: neurofeedback

control phase

Sham Comparator group

Description:

The control phase is structured identically to the active period, except that the acoustic neurofeedback is synthetically generated and not linked to the subject's actual functional connectivity, while still resembling its dynamic characteristics to ensure effective blinding. The training will last about 40 minutes, with frequent breaks. The training will be followed by visual stimulation of the affected visual field, just as in the active condition.

Treatment:

Procedure: neurofeedback