Development of pattern vision following early and extended blindness
Name
Kalia-2014-Development of patte.pdf
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1.21 MB
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Author(s)
Kalia, Amy Ashwin
Lesmes, Luis Andres
Dorr, Michael
Gandhi, Tapan Kumar
Chatterjee, Garga
Ganesh, Suma
Bex, Peter J.
Sinha, Pawan
Date Issued
January 2014
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)
Citation
Kalia, A., L. A. Lesmes, M. Dorr, T. Gandhi, G. Chatterjee, S. Ganesh, P. J. Bex, and P. Sinha. “Development of Pattern Vision Following Early and Extended Blindness.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111, no. 5 (January 21, 2014): 2035–2039.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Visual plasticity peaks during early critical periods of normal visual development. Studies in animals and humans provide converging evidence that gains in visual function are minimal and deficits are most severe when visual deprivation persists beyond the critical period. Here we demonstrate visual development in a unique sample of patients who experienced extended early-onset blindness (beginning before 1 y of age and lasting 8–17 y) before removal of bilateral cataracts. These patients show surprising improvements in contrast sensitivity, an assay of basic spatial vision. We find that contrast sensitivity development is independent of the age of sight onset and that individual rates of improvement can exceed those exhibited by normally developing infants. These results reveal that the visual system can retain considerable plasticity, even after early blindness that extends beyond critical periods.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
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Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1311041111
