The Effect of Central Vision Loss on Perception of Mutual Gaze

People with central vision loss (CVL) often report difficulties with social interactions and reduced social functioning.1, 2 A limited access to the nonverbal visual cues inherent to effective communication can be a disadvantage in social interactions. Wang and Boerner3 reported that for people with vision impairment, difficulty in social situations was due either to the individual’s own lack of ability to perceive visual cues or other people’s lack of understanding. The facial region has been noted as an important source of nonverbal visual information relevant to social situations.4 Prior studies of individuals with CVL due to age-related macular degeneration have focused primarily on dif…