title: Configuration-based processing of phosphene pattern recognition for simulated prosthetic vision.
abstract: Visual prosthesis can elicit phosphenes by stimulating the retina, optic nerve, or visual cortex along the visual pathway. Psychophysical studies have demonstrated that visual function can be partly recovered with phosphene-based prosthetic vision. This study investigated the cognitive process of prosthetic vision through a face recognition task. Both behavioral response and the face-specific N170 component of event-related potential were analyzed in the presence of face and non-face stimuli with natural and simulated prosthetic vision. Our results showed that: (i) the accuracy of phosphene face recognition was comparable with that of the normal one when phosphene grid increased to 25 x 21 or more; (ii) shorter response time was needed for phosphene face recognition; and (iii) the N170 component was delayed and enhanced under phosphene stimuli. It was suggested that recognition of phosphene patterns employ a configuration-based holistic processing mechanism with a distinct substage unspecific to faces.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Ruogu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Yihong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: Yisheng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Shanbao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tong
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010719:Phosphenes / Q000502:physiology*; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult