Assessing visual mental imagery abilities in cerebral visual impairment

Abstract

Visual imagery refers to the ability to create voluntary mental representations in the absence of corresponding visual stimuli, and current evidence suggests that it shares common neural mechanisms with visual perception. Cerebral visual impairment (CVI) is a brain-based visual disorder caused by early neurological injury and maldevelopment of central visual processing pathways and areas. Individuals with CVI often present with a complex visual profile, including deficits related to higher-order visual processing. However, the impact of visual maldevelopment on imagery abilities in this population has not been extensively characterized. We used the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ) to investigate visual imagery abilities in a cohort of CVI participants ( n  = 25, mean age = 22.48 years ± 12.31 SD) compared to controls with neurotypical vision and development ( n  = 25, mean age = 22.88 years ± 4.94 SD). We found that individuals with CVI had significantly lower VVIQ scores (mean = 41.84 ± 18.61 SD) than controls (mean = 62.48 ± 13.07 SD), after controlling for age and verbal IQ level. Within the CVI group, visual imagery abilities were not significantly different when separated by baseline visual acuity, gestational status, or co-occurrence of autism spectrum disorder. These results suggest that impaired visual imagery may represent an important feature characterizing the complex visual profile of CVI.