Visual impairment in infants: comparison between cortical and peripheral visual impairment (preliminary observations)

Using a visual tracking task with different targets, this study aimed to reveal differences in the visual behavior profiles of two infants suffering from peripheral blindness and two infants suffering from cortical blindness—conditions that are otherwise difficult to distinguish at such an early age. Two other preterm babies participated in the study. The infants visually followed a mobile target on a horizontal trajectory. The two visual stimuli were supplemented by two audio stimuli. Results show different profiles, depending on the infants’ visual condition and the experimental conditions. The preterm babies performed the best in all conditions, whereas the infants suffering from cortical visual impairment showed the poorest results. Furthermore, associating a sound with the visual target increased the infant’s attention and the performance of infants suffering “cortical blindness,” while it decreased the performance of those with “peripheral blindness.” These preliminary data allow us to identify the two types of blindness, but also the residual visual capacities of each infant.