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plasticity. Because it is part of the central nervous system, the eye, and more specifically the retina, is not isolated from other sensory, motor, emotional and cognitive systems.
As discussed earlier in this chapter, the eye plays a critical role in routing information through multiple brain pathways to the visual cortex. Much of this activity occurs beneath conscious awareness. What small portion reaches conscious awareness represents a conglomeration of inputs from a variety of senses, including the visual, auditory, and olfactory systems. The mind, body, and environment are continually shifting to achieve a comfortable balance, but this normal process is inhibited by neurological injury, disease, stress, or trauma.
Because of researchers’ increased understanding of neuromodulation, the role of neuro- optometric rehabilitation as a non-invasive approach to brain function has grown in importance. The use of different lenses, prisms, mirrors, filters, and other optometric interventions to stimulate the retina is allowing eye professionals to evaluate possible hidden dysfunctions in mind-eye connections or neurologic disruptions that can impact a person’s social, academic, and sports performances. By bending light in different ways across the retina, incoming visual signals are altered and informational pathways in the brain are changed, thereby enhancing spatial awareness, cognition, and perception.
Recent technological innovation supports neuro-optometric approaches. New instruments can quantify subtle changes in eye movements, such as video pupillometers and computerized testing batteries for brain-injured patients or individuals diagnosed as autistic.
Use of therapeutic BrainwearTM eyeglasses to modulate the frequency, amount, and direction of light on the retina allows neuro-optometric rehabilitation to accelerate
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