Affiliations: [a] Mali dom, Zagreb, Day Care Centre for Rehabilitation of Children with Visual Impairment and Multiple Disabilities, Zagreb, Croatia | [b] Department of Child Neurology, Children's Hospital Zagreb, University of Zagreb, Medical School, Zagreb, Croatia
Correspondence:
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Address for correspondence: Sonja Alimović, Mali dom, Zagreb, Baštijanova 1a, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia. Tel.: +385 1 37 46 500, +385 98 75 33 48; Fax: +385 1 65 21 096; E-mail: sonja@malidom.hr
Abstract: Background:Children with perinatal brain damage have a high prevalence of visual impairment. Stimulation of vision at a critical period can encourage brain plasticity and the recovery of impaired function. Objective:The aim of our study was to investigate when is the critical period for visual stimulation in children with perinatal brain damage. Methods:We compared 35 children within the first eight months of life (median age = 4 months) to 35 children aged between eight and thirty months (median age = 15 months), all with perinatal brain damage. All the children were attending an early intervention program at Mali dom, Zagreb, a rehabilitation centre for children with visual impairment. We compared the results from baseline and follow-up assessments of visual functions (grating acuity and contrast sensitivity). We also compared differences in change scores between the two groups. Results:Our results have shown that children who commence a visual stimulation program within the first eight months of life had more improvement in both visual functions. This improvement is statistically significant in visual acuity (p = 0.048). Conclusions:These results indicate the importance of starting a visual stimulation program within the first eight months after birth.
