Can computer training rewire the brain to restore sight after stroke?
NCT ID NCT06121219
First seen Sep 10, 2026 · Last updated Sep 11, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
Researchers at the University of Rochester are testing a home-based computer program that trains people to detect visual stimuli in their blind field. The trial enrolls adults who have lost part of their vision because of damage to the brain's visual cortex, often from a stroke. Participants use the software daily for several months while researchers measure changes in visual perception and brain function. The goal is to learn whether intensive visual retraining can help recover some vision and how the brain adapts.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- home-based visual retraining software
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could offer a home-based way to help people regain parts of their vision after a stroke damages the brain's visual areas.
- What could go wrong
- The training may not improve vision outside the specific tasks practiced, and benefits might not carry over to everyday life. The trial is small and early, so results may not apply broadly.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 100 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Sep 2024
- Expected to finish
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Jan 2032
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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21 to 80 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Cortically Blind Subjects Inclusion: * Between 21 and 80 years of age * Residents of the United States or Canada * Unilateral stroke or stroke-like damage to primary visual cortex or its immediate afferent white matter sustained within the specified age range (21-75 years) * Reliable visual field defects in both eyes as measured by Humphrey, MAIA, Goldmann, and/or equivalent perimetry, large enough to enclose a 5-deg diameter visual stimulus. * Able to fixate on visual targets reliably for 1000ms * Must have a home computer (desktop or laptop) and reliable internet access * Willing, able, and competent to provide informed consent * Normal cognitive abilities, able to understand written and oral instructions in English, and competent and responsible adults in order to complete the visual training at home, independently, as instructed, for several months. Exclusion: * Past or present eye disease interfering with visual acuity * BCVA worse than 20/40 in either eye * Damage to the dorsal Lateral Geniculate Nucleus * Diffuse whole brain degenerative processes * History of traumatic brain injury * Any other brain damage deemed by study staff to potentially interfere with training ability or outcome measures * Documented history of drug/alcohol abuse * Currently taking neuroactive medications which would impact training, as determined by PI * Presence of cognitive or seizure disorders * One-sided attentional neglect * Subjects who lack the competence or are otherwise unable to perform the visual training exercises as directed. Control Subjects (n = 50) Inclusion: * Between 21 and 80 years of age * Report no history of neurological disorder. * Competent and responsible, as determined by the Principal Investigator. Exclusion: * Presence of damage to the visual system * Presence of an active disease process involving their nervous system. * Cognitive or seizure disorders * Best corrected visual acuity worse than 20/40 in either eye * Presence of vision field loss from ocular disease or disorder
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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University of Rochester Medical Center
RECRUITINGRochester, New York, 14642, United States
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