Brain Reorganizes to Adjust for Vision Loss in Macular Degeneration

Published by Karin

A new study shows that when people with retinal disease such as macular degeneration use a peripheral part of their retina to compensate for their loss of central vision, their brain appears to compensate by reorganizing its neural connections.

Macular degeneration (MD) causes a progressive loss of central visual. To cope with this, MD patients often start to focus using a functional retinal area in the periphery of their area of vision. This use of a new area of focus may foster cortical reorganization.

Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure brain activity in participants as they performed a series of tests designed to visually stimulate their peripheral regions. It was determined that when the participants visually stimulated the peripheral retinal locations they increased brain activity in the same areas of the visual cortex that are normally activated when healthy patients focused on objects in their central visual field.

Study authors believe that large-scale cortical reorganization of visual processing occurs in humans in response to retinal disease. While several other studies have suggested that the brain can reorganize itself, this is the first study to show that this reorganization in patients with retinal disease is related to patient behavior.

Researchers are currently analyzing how long this reorganization takes and whether it can be assisted with low-vision training.

Learn more about macular degeneration

Read about eye exercises for vision fitness

SOURCE: Reorganization of visual processing is related to eccentric viewing in patients with macular degeneration, Schumacher, et al, Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, Volume 26, Number 4-5, 2008, 391 – 402.