August 2016
Volume 16, Issue 12
Open Access
Vision Sciences Society Annual Meeting Abstract  |   September 2016
Visual BOLD response in late-blind subjects with Argus II retinal prosthesis
Author Affiliations
  • Elisa Castaldi
    Department of Translational Research on New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
  • Marco Cicchini
    CNR Neuroscience Institute, Pisa, Italy
  • Laura Cinelli
    Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Careggi, SOD Oculistica, Florence, Italy
  • Michela Tosetti
    Department of Developmental Neuroscience, Stella Maris Scientific Institute, Pisa, Italy
  • Stanislao Rizzo
    Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Careggi, SOD Oculistica, Florence, Italy
  • Maria Morrone
    Department of Translational Research on New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Journal of Vision September 2016, Vol.16, 1090. doi:https://doi.org/10.1167/16.12.1090
  • Views
  • Share
  • Tools
    • Alerts
      ×
      This feature is available to authenticated users only.
      Sign In or Create an Account ×
    • Get Citation

      Elisa Castaldi, Marco Cicchini, Laura Cinelli, Michela Tosetti, Stanislao Rizzo, Maria Morrone; Visual BOLD response in late-blind subjects with Argus II retinal prosthesis. Journal of Vision 2016;16(12):1090. https://doi.org/10.1167/16.12.1090.

      Download citation file:


      © ARVO (1962-2015); The Authors (2016-present)

      ×
  • Supplements
Abstract

The recent advance in retinal prosthesis technologies generates hope for partially restoring vision to blind people with retinal pathologies. However, these strategies require the visual system downstream of the retinal circuitry to be capable of transmitting and elaborating visual signals. We studied plastic remodeling in late blind subjects implanted with Argus II Retinal Prosthesis. We assessed the visual function of a group of 7 blind patients before and after implantation. We measured motion direction discrimination, as well as detection of the same stimuli presented stationary to the operated and un-operated eyes in 2AFC design. We also recorded BOLD responses before and after the implant in four subjects in response to full-field flashing stimuli (1Hz) alternated with rest periods of dark. When the subjects used the prosthetic implant, detection discrimination improved over time, but not direction discrimination which remained at chance. No subject showed any improvement of vision in either eye when not aided by the Argus II. Before the implant the BOLD activity in the primary visual area and the putative LGN was very weak or absent, after surgery the response to visual inputs was enhanced. Interestingly this recovery was ipsilateral to the implant, implying that the neural changes are strictly correlated with the stimulation site. Given the evidence that the electrodes stimulate ganglion cells axons mainly from temporal hemiretina (Fine, Boynton Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, 2015), our results suggest that local electrical stimulation may induce trophic factors and cause the enhancement in the activity of the LGN and V1 that receive afferents from temporal hemiretina. This is the first study tracking the neural changes of visual areas in patients after retinal implant and revealed a capability to respond to restored visual input even after years of deprivation.

Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2016

×
×

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

Sign in or purchase a subscription to access this content. ×

You must be signed into an individual account to use this feature.

×