title: Transient increase of intact visual field size by high-frequency narrow-band stimulation.
abstract: Three patients with visual field defects were stimulated with a square matrix pattern, either static, or flickering at frequencies that had been found to either promote or not promote blindsight performance. Comparison between pre- and post-stimulation perimetric maps revealed an increase in the size of the intact visual field but only for flicker frequencies previously found to promote blindsight. These changes were temporary but dramatic - in two instances the intact field was increased by an area of ∼30 deg(2) of visual angle. These results indicate that not only does specific high-frequency stimulus flicker promote blindsight, but that intact visual field size may be increased by stimulation at the same frequencies. Our findings inform speculation on both the brain mechanisms and the potency of temporal modulation for altering the functional visual field.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland; Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Department of Psychology: General and Experimental Psychology, Leopoldstr. 13, 80802 Munich, Germany. Electronic address: mark.elliott@nuigalway.ie.
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Elliott
authors.affiliation: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Department of Psychology: General and Experimental Psychology, Leopoldstr. 13, 80802 Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Doerthe
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Seifert
authors.affiliation: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Center for Human Sciences/Generation Research Program and Institute of Medical Psychology, Germany; Hanse Wissenschaftskolleg, Institute of Advanced Study, Neurosciences and Cognitive Sciences, Lehmkuhlenbusch 4, 27753 Delmenhorst, Germany.
authors.forename: Dorothe A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Poggel
authors.affiliation: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Center for Human Sciences/Generation Research Program and Institute of Medical Psychology, Germany; University Medicine Göttingen, Dept. of Medical Psychology and Med. Sociology, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Strasburger
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D019575:Blindness, Cortical / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Blindsight; High-frequency flicker; Visual field restoration