What blindness can tell us about seeing again: merging neuroplasticity and neuroprostheses.
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.
Merabet
Lotfi B
LB
Department of Ophthalmology, Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA. lmerabet@bidmc.harvard.edu
Rizzo
Joseph F
JF
Amedi
Amir
A
Somers
David C
DC
Pascual-Leone
Alvaro
A
D000818:Animals; D001766:Blindness / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D014785:Vision, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*