Testing audio-visual training with brain stimulation for vision loss after stroke
Tests audio-visual training with brain stimulation in people with vision loss after stroke.
Key facts
- Who runs it
- Istituto Auxologico Italiano
- Where
- Milan, ItalySee the site
- Trial code
- Registry title
- Neuromodulation Through Multisensory Stimulation for Visual Field Deficits in the Subacute Stage of Disease
- Status
- Recruiting
- People taking part
- 48 people, planned
- Started
- 1 Feb 2026
- Expected to end
- 31 Jan 2029
- Type of study
- Interventional, 2 groupsOne group gets a sham (pretend) treatment, for comparison.
- Treatments tested
- tDCS
- Audio-visual training
- Record updated
- 22 January 2026
Who can take part
AI summary
From the trial's eligibility criteria. Machine-read from the registry text on this page, so it can be wrong. The registry text below and the trial team decide who can take part.
The trial is looking for adults who recently had a brain injury such as a stroke and now have a loss of part of their visual field on the same side in both eyes.
- Age
- 18 years or older
- Sex
- All sexes can join
- Disease stage
- Brain injury less than 3 months ago, with a visual field loss on the same side in both eyes (homonymous visual field defect) confirmed by an eye and nerve (neuro-ophthalmological) check
Main reasons for not taking part
- Neglect of one side of space (hemispatial neglect)
- Disorders of eye movements that move both eyes together
- Other brain or nerve diseases, such as dementia
- Epilepsy or a family history of epilepsy
- Implanted metal devices, pacemakers, stimulators or pumps, or pregnancy
The registry criteria, word for word
Show all 5 criteriaShow less
Who can take part
- Presence of subacute acquired brain injury (< 3 months) with HVFD according to Neurophthalmological evaluation
Who cannot take part
- Disorders of conjugated eye movements
- Other neurological disorders (e.g., dementia)
- Exclusion criteria for brain stimulation (i.e., epilepsy or family history of epilepsy; implanted electrodes, stimulators, pacemakers, infusion pumps, or any implanted metal device; pregnancy)
- Presence of hemispatial neglect (indexed by pathological asymmetries on paper-and-pencil tests)
Where in Italy
- Istituto Auxologico Italiano IRCCSMilan, ItalyContact: Nadia Bolognini, PhDTaking people
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
Homonymous visual field defects (HVFDs) after acquired brain injuries affect daily life by impairing reading, navigation, and social activities, often impacting anxiety and depression. Spontaneous recovery is rare. Rehabilitation approaches include restorative treatments, which aim to expand the visual field through the stimulation of the so-called transition zone, and compensatory strategies, such as audio-visual training (AVT), which combines eye movement exercises with synchronized visual and auditory cues to train oculomotor scanning and overcome the visual field loss. Combining AVT with non-invasive brain stimulation, such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), may enhance recovery by promoting brain plasticity. Early evidence suggests that tDCS applied to the lesioned visual cortex during AVT can speed and stabilize improvements, potentially also restoring parts of the visual field. However, most studies on AVT have focused on chronic patients, whereas several clinical trials and international guidelines indicate that early treatment of HVFDs in the subacute phase can optimally exploit the window of maximal neural plasticity and prevent secondary degenerative processes, thereby maximizing visual recovery.
Read full original descriptionShow less
In the present randomized clinical trial, we assess the efficacy of a multisensory audio-visual training (AVT) combined with tDCS in patients with subacute HVFDs after stroke (<3 months post-lesion). Participants are randomly assigned to two groups: AVT combined with real anodal tDCS applied to the lesioned occipital cortex (Group 1), or AVT combined with sham tDCS (Group 2).
The AVT requires participants to orient their gaze toward spatio-temporally congruent, cross-modal audio-visual stimuli (starting from a central fixation) and press a button as quickly as possible upon detecting the visual target. All stimuli are presented on 2mx2m panel embedded with 40 LEDs and loudspeakers (Diana, Casati, Melzi, Marzoli, et al., 2024). The training will be administered for 90 minutes daily over 10 consecutive days.
All participants underwent a neuro-ophthalmological evaluation and neuropsychological assessment of visuospatial functions before the beginning of the training (t0), at the end of the training (t1), at 2 months (t2) and after 1 year (t3).
The 2 groups in the trial
- Anodal Occipital tDCS + audio-visual trainingTreatment being tested
Anodal tDCS on ipsilesional occipital cortex. Anode electrode placed on O1/O2 (10-20 EEG system) and reference electrode placed on the contralateral forehead. Stimulation delivered at 2mA during the first 30 minutes of the audio-visual training.
Treatment: tDCS and Audio-visual training
- Sham tDCS + audio-visual trainingSham treatment, for comparison
Same montage as for Experimental group. Stimulator is turned off after 30s of the audio-visual training.
Treatment: tDCS and Audio-visual training
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations
Print a page for my doctorData and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- Neuromodulation Through Multisensory Stimulation for Visual Field Deficits in the Subacute Stage of Disease
- Plain-language title
- Testing audio-visual training with brain stimulation for vision loss after strokeGenerated from the registry record. The registry title is the official one.
- AI summary
- From the trial's eligibility criteria. Read by machine on 13 November 2026.
- Record updated
- 22 January 2026