Brain Injury and Vision

Brain injury and vision are closely related for obvious reasons. People who suffer a brain injury or stroke may experience a wide range of visual symptoms. Visual field loss is among the most common. Through damage to the occipital cortex, the visual part of the brain located at the back of the head, the result may be a total loss of vision to one side or the other. The side of the brain that is traumatized or affected by a stroke, will result in a loss of vision on the opposite side in the real world. Therefore, if the damage occurs on the left side of the brain then the patient will loose the ability to see things on their right side. These types of conditions may be compensated for with therapy that may include specialized scanning techniques. These can be used in conjunction with prism systems.

Some of the other symptoms of brain injury or stroke may include diplopia, or double vision, vertigo and dizziness, eyestrain and fatigue, light sensitivity, dry eyes, visual hallucinations, and visual neglect. Visual field loss is an actual loss of sight in part of the visual field, visual field neglect is a loss of awareness of a part of the field, even though the field may still be there.