1838 considered, to examine pattern glare trends in a broader stroke population. Furthermore, it should be recognized that some of the sample were recruited from an optometric practice, and given that these subjects may have a higher predisposition to visual symptoms associated with their stroke, this could overestimate the levels of visual stress in stroke patients. An opportunity for further work would be to consider the effect of time interval, and number of stroke events, on the outcome measures. In the present study, the majority of the subjects had suffered a stroke several years prior to the data collection. In conclusion, it appears that pattern glare is associated with stroke, indicated by an abnormal pattern glare score on the pattern glare test, most notably when considering the mid-high difference variable. This remains the case when those with other co-morbidities of pattern glare, such as migraine, or previously identiﬁed visual stress, are removed from the data set. Further work is required to investigate other measures of visual perceptual deﬁcits within a stroke group, along with the management of these symptoms with spectral ﬁlters. Acknowledgments We are grateful for the time given freely by the participants in this study, as well as the early guidance given by Professor Arnold Wilkins. Conﬂicts of interest The authors declare that they have no conﬂicts of interest. Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, dis- tribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited. References 1. Wilkins AJ (1995) Visual stress. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2. Wilkins AJ, Nimmo-Smith I, Tait A, McManus C, Della Sala S, Tilley A, Arnold K, Barrie M, Scott S (1984) A neurological basis for visual discomfort. Brain 107:989–1017 3. Wilkins AJ, Nimmo-Smith I (1984) On the reduction of eye- strain when reading. Ophthal Physiol Opt 4:53–59 4. Evans BJW, Drasdo N (1991) Tinted lenses and related therapies for learning disabilities: a review. Ophthal Physiol Opt 11:206–217 5. Evans BJW (1997) Coloured ﬁlters and dyslexia: what’s in a name? Dyslexia Rev 9:18–19 6. Evans BJW, Stevenson SJ (2008) The pattern glare test: a review and determination of normative values. Ophthal Physiol Opt 28:295–309 7. Huang J, Zong X, Wilkins A, Jenkins B, Bozoki A, Cao Y (2011) fMRI evidence that precision ophthalmic tints reduce cortical hyperactivation in migraine. Cephalalgia 31(8):925–936 8. Yekta AA, Pickwell LD, Jenkins TCA (1989) Binocular vision, age and symptoms. Ophthal Physiol Opt 9:115–120 9. Wilkins AJ (1993) Reading and visual discomfort. Visual pro- cesses in reading and reading disabilities. Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, NJ 123 J Neurol (2012) 259:1832–1839 10. Wilkins A, Nimmo-Smith I (1987) The clarity and comfort of printed text. Ergonomics 30(12):1705–1720 11. Wilkins AJ, Huang J, Cao Y (2004) Visual stress theory and its application to reading and reading tests. J Res Read 27:152–162 12. Wilkins AJ, Neary C (1991) Some visual, optometric and per- ceptual effects of coloured glasses. Ophthal Physiol Opt 1:163– 171 13. Harle DE, Evans BJ (2004) The optometric correlates of migraine. Ophthal Physiol Opt 24:369–383 14. Harle DE, Shepherd AJ, Evans BJ (2006) Visual stimuli are common triggers of migraine and are associated with pattern glare. Headache 46:1431–1440 15. Wilkins AJ, Baker A, Amin D, Smith S, Bradford J, Zaiwalla Z, Besag FMC, Binnie CD, Fish D (1999) Treatment of photosen- sitive epilepsy using coloured glasses. Seizure 8:444–449 16. Wilkins AJ, Patel R, Adjamian P, Evans BJW (2002) Tinted spectacles and visually sensitive migraine. Cephalagia 22:711– 719 17. Nulty D, Wilkins AJ, Williams JM (1987) Mood, pattern sensi- tivity and headache: a longitudinal study. Psychol Med 17:705– 713 18. Kriss I, Evans BJW (2005) The relationship between dyslexia and Meares–Irlen syndrome. J Res Read 28:350–364 19. Singleton C, Trotter S (2005) Visual stress in adults with and without dyslexia. J Res Read 28(3):365–378 20. Jeanes R, Busby A, Martin J, Lewis E, Stevenson A, Pointon D, Wilkins A (1997) Prolonged use of coloured overlays for class- room reading. Br J Psychol 88:531–548 21. Evans BJW, Joseph F (2002) The effect of coloured ﬁlters on the rate of reading in an adult student population. Ophthalmol Physiol Opt 22(6):535–545 22. Ludlow A, Wilkins A, Heaton P (2006) The effect of coloured overlays on reading ability in children with autism. J Autism Dev 36:507–516 23. Newman Wright B, Wilkins AJ, Zoukos Y (2007) Spectral ﬁlters can improve reading and visual search in patients with multiple sclerosis. J Neurol 254:1729–1735 24. Evans BJW, Busby A, Jeanes R, Wilkins A (1995) Optometric correlates of Meares–Irlen syndrome: a matched group study. Ophthal Physiol Opt 15(5):481–487 25. Evans BJW, Patel R, Wilkins A (2002) Optometric function in visually sensitive migraine before and after treatment with tinted spectacles. Ophthal Physiol Opt 22:130–142 26. Tosta S, Johnson P (2009) Traumatic brain injury and Irlen syndrome. J Head Trauma Rehabil 24:395 27. Jackowski MM, Sturr JF, Taub HA, Turk MA (1996) Photo- phobia in patients with traumatic brain injury: uses of light-ﬁl- tering lenses to enhance contrast sensitivity and reading rate. Neuro Rehabil 6:193–201 28. Han Y, Ciuffreda KJ, Kapoor N (2004) Reading-related oculo- motor testing and training protocols for acquired brain injury in humans. Brain Res Protoc 14:1–12 29. Bohnen N, Twijnstra A, Wijnen G, Jolles J (1991) Tolerance for light and sound of patients with persistent post-concussional symptoms 6 months after mild head-injury. J Neurol 238:443– 446 30. Waddell PA, Gronwall DM (1984) Sensitivity to light and sound following minor head injury. Acta Neurol Scand 69:270–276 31. Chang TT, Ciuffreda KJ, Kapoor N (2007) Critical ﬂicker fre- quency and related symptoms in mild traumatic brain injury. Brain Inj 21:1055–1062 32. Braun C, Weber J, Schiefer U, Skalej M, Dietrich T (2001) Hyperexcitatory activity in visual cortex in homonymous hemi- anopia after stroke. Clin Neurophysiol 112:336–343 33. Donnan GA, Fisher M, Macleod M, Davis SM (2008) Stroke. Lancet 371:1612–1623