Monday, May 6, 2024
5/6/2024
Project summary/abstract Facial perception and memory are visual abilities that are driven by an interplay between low-level visual and higher-level cognitive functioning. De¿cits in facial perception and memory are associated with diminished quality of life and a range of social challenges, and it has been suggested that this functional de¿cit may be an early marker for the later onset of structural abnormalities in a variety of conditions. One of these conditions—one that has received scant attention—is diabetic retinopathy. In a recent systematic review, dif¿culty in perceiving faces was noted as one of the greatest subjective restrictions on visual functioning. Diabetic retinopathy affects approx- imately one-third of individuals with diabetes world-wide. The vision loss associated with diabetic retinopathy is preventable, given early identi¿cation, medical intervention and monitoring, and behavioral interventions. Diabetic retinopathy can be generally separated into two classes. The ¿rst is non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy, which is characterized by micro-aneurysms, intraretinal hemorrhages, venous beading or intra-retinal microvascular ab- normalities. The second is proliferative diabetic retinopathy, which is characterized by retinal neovascularization. In cases of macular edema, there is a thickening of the macula which can result in the loss of central vision. De¿cits in face processing have been studied more frequently in two pathologies that affect the macula: age- related macular degeneration (AMD) and glaucomatous macular damage. Patients with AMD regularly identify facial processing as tasks with which they experience signi¿cant dif¿culty. In the literature on AMD, de¿cits in facial processing have been identi¿ed as signi¿cant components of quality of life. The magnitude of the de¿cits in facial processing in AMD are such that they are second only to de¿cits in reading in subjective complaints. Finally, it has been noted that de¿cits in facial processsing are among the ¿rst subjectively-reported symptoms of AMD, often occurring before the detection of structural abnormalities. With respect to de¿cits in facial percep- tion and memory in glaucomatous macular damage, there is evidence that signi¿cant impairments exist despite patients having good central visual acuity. In addition, the amount of the diffuse macular damage is signi¿cantly related to impairments in contrast sensitivity and measures of facial recognition and identi¿cation. It has been suggested that other related visual pathologies—including diabetic retinopathy—should show similar patterns of performance de¿cits. However, very little work on this issue has been done in the case of diabetic retinopa- thy. The work proposed here represents an important ¿rst step in addressing this need. The accomplishment of this work will result in the ¿rst quanti¿cation of the prevalence and severity of de¿cits in facial processing in diabetic retinopathy, the ¿rst analytic empirical treatment of the pathology-related differences in processing feat- ural and con¿gural information, and the ¿rst theoretical treatment of those differences. The novel application of two meta-theories using a new experimental design, along with a modeling approach capable of relating those meta-theories has the potential to be transformative in this domain.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
