Dynamic stimulation of the visual cortex allows blind and sighted people to 'see' shapes

Dynamic stimulation of the visual cortex allows blind and sighted people to 'see' shapes
Different letter-like shapes (W and Z) created by different dynamic stimulation patterns, with the stimulation pattern on the left and the participant drawings on the right. Credit: Beauchamp et al./Cell

For most adults who lose their vision, blindness results from damage to the eyes or optic nerve while the brain remains intact. For decades, researchers have proposed developing a device that could restore sight by bypassing damaged eyes and delivering visual information from a camera directly to the brain. In a paper publishing in the journal Cell on May 14, a team of investigators at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston report that they are one step closer to this goal. They describe an approach in which implanted electrodes are stimulated in a dynamic sequence, essentially "tracing" shapes on the surface of the visual cortex that participants were able to "see."

"When we used to dynamically trace letters directly on patients' brains, they were able to 'see' the intended letter shapes and could correctly identify different letters," senior author Daniel Yoshor says. "They described seeing glowing spots or lines forming the letters, like skywriting."

Previous attempts to stimulate the have been less successful. Earlier methods treated each like a pixel in a visual display, stimulating many of them at the same time. Participants could detect spots of light but found it hard to discern visual objects or forms. "Rather than trying to build shapes from multiple spots of light, we traced outlines," says first author Michael Beauchamp. "Our inspiration for this was the idea of tracing a letter in the palm of someone's hand."

The investigators tested the approach in four sighted people who had electrodes implanted in their brains to monitor epilepsy and two blind people who had electrodes implanted over their visual cortex as part of a study of a visual cortical prosthetic device. Stimulation of multiple electrodes in sequences produced perceptions of shapes that subjects were able to correctly identify as specific letters.

Dynamic stimulation of the visual cortex allows blind and sighted people to 'see' shapes
Figure illustrates how dynamic stimulation to the visual cortex enables participants to 'see' shapes. Credit: Beauchamp et al./Cell
A blind participant drawing letters based on dynamic stimulation to the visual cortex. Credit: Beauchamp et al./Cell

The approach, the researchers say, demonstrates that it could be possible for blind people to regain the ability to detect and recognize visual forms by using technology that inputs visual information directly into the brain, should they wish to. The researchers note, however, that several obstacles must be overcome before this technology could be implemented in clinical practice.

"The , where the electrodes were implanted, contains half a billion neurons. In this study we stimulated only a small fraction of these neurons with a handful of electrodes," Beauchamp says. "An important next step will be to work with neuroengineers to develop electrode arrays with thousands of electrodes, allowing us to stimulate more precisely. Together with new hardware, improved stimulation algorithms will help realize the dream of delivering useful to ."

More information: Cell (2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.033

Journal information: Cell
Provided by Cell Press
Citation: Dynamic stimulation of the visual cortex allows blind and sighted people to 'see' shapes (2020, May 14) retrieved 18 March 2024 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-05-dynamic-visual-cortex-sighted-people.html
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