Can your brain keep you from seeing?

Scientists made a discovery recently that revealed the brain’s important role in both vision loss and vision restoration.  The results showed that in some cases, even with restored vision, the brain can prevent the newly sighted from complete vision restoration.

At the University of Montreal, scientists have discovered that the rewiring of the senses that occurs in the brains of the long-term blind means that visual restoration may never be complete. "We had the opportunity to study the rare case of a woman with very low vision since birth and whose vision was suddenly restored in adulthood following the implantation of a Boston Keratoprosthesis in her right eye," explained Giulia Dormal, who led the study.

Researchers worked with the patient, a 50 year old woman from Quebec in Canada. They conducted behavioral and neurophysiological measurements before and after surgery, in order to track changes in her sight and brain anatomy, and in the way her brain responded to sights and sounds.

According to Dormal, “Certain regions of the visual cortex even seven months after surgery, and these responses overlapped with visually-driven responses. This overlap may be the reason some aspects of vision, despite having improved with time, still remained below normal range 7 months after surgery."

If you have questions about your vision and the procedures that may be able to correct your vision such as LASIK, please contact the staff at Charleston Cornea & Refractive Surgery in Charleston, South Carolina at 843-856-5275 or www.charlestoncornea.com.