Visual Neuroprosthesis: The Relevance of Plasticity

Abstract

The question of what happens to the brain following the loss of sight is of seminal importance for any rehabilitative strategy for the blind. In order to interact effectively with their environment, blind individuals have to make striking adjustments to their loss of sight. Growing experimental evidence now suggests that these behavioral adaptations are reflected by dramatic neurophysiological changes at the level of the brain and specifically, with regions of the brain responsible for processing vision itself. These changes may represent the exploitation of spatial and temporal processing inherent within occipital visual cortex that allow a blind individual to adapt to the loss of sight and remain integrated in highly visually-dependent society. The modulation of such plasticity will be crucial in developing and projecting the success of future visual neuroprosthetic strategies and have important implications for rehabilitative training and device development.

This work was supported by a research grant of the Spanish Blind Organization (ONCE) and by the Bidons Egara Research Chair of the University Miguel Hernández.