title: What blindness can tell us about seeing again: merging neuroplasticity and neuroprostheses.
abstract: Significant progress has been made in the development of visual neuroprostheses to restore vision in blind individuals. Appropriate delivery of electrical stimulation to intact visual structures can evoke patterned sensations of light in those who have been blind for many years. However, success in developing functional visual prostheses requires an understanding of how to communicate effectively with the visually deprived brain in order to merge what is perceived visually with what is generated electrically.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA. lmerabet@bidmc.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Lotfi B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Merabet
authors.forename: Joseph F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Rizzo
authors.forename: Amir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Amedi
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Somers
authors.forename: Alvaro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pascual-Leone
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001766:Blindness / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D014785:Vision, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*