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Brain adapts to visual field change in patients with macular degeneration
Restor Neurol Neurosci. 2008;26(4-5);391-402.
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The brain reorganizes visual stimuli when patients with macular degeneration refocus to compensate for a loss of central vision.
The study findings may significantly enhance vision for patients with macular degeneration. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology saw that when patients used a non-diseased part of their retina to compensate for visual field loss, the brain reorganized neural connections to adapt.
The study included 13 volunteer subjects who underwent tests designed to stimulate their peripheral vision. When patients used non-diseased, preferred retinal locations, brain activity increased in areas of the visual cortex normally activated when patients focused on the central visual field.
"The parts of the visual cortex that process information from the central visual field in patients with normal vision were reprogrammed to process information from other parts of the eye, parts that macular degeneration patients use instead of their central visual areas," according to a news release.
"While there is evidence with other tasks that suggests that the brain can reorganize itself, this is the first study to directly show that this reorganization in patients with retinal disease is related to patient behavior," the release said.