Blind people may soon be able to partially regain their vision thanks to newly developed implants in the cerebral cortex, reports the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience. The implants make it possible to recognize images without affecting the eyes. The first research results, published in the leading journal Science, are promising, according to the institute.
The idea of stimulating the cerebral cortex with an implant dates back to the 1970s, but the researchers at the institute are using new implants with many more electrodes in the cerebral cortex than was previously possible.
Trials on monkeys
The research team developed implants with 1024 electrodes and placed them in the visual cerebral cortex of two non-blind monkeys. The monkeys were first given the simple task of recognizing a bright spot that was generated with an electrode. Then they had to perform more complex tasks, such as distinguishing letters artificially created in the monkeys’ perception. This was done by simultaneous stimulation of eight to fifteen electrodes.
With this artificial vision, the monkeys could also recognize other shapes, such as lines and moving dots.
Restore eyesight
“Our implant is directly connected to the brain, thus bypassing the stages of visual processing by the eye or optic nerve,” explains researcher Xing Chen. “In the future, such technology could be used to restore the vision of people who have become blind as a result of injury or deterioration of the retina, eye or optic nerve, but whose visual cortex is still intact.”
The research lays the foundation for the development of a brain prosthesis that could enable blind people to see functionally again and recognize objects. Navigating in an unfamiliar environment is also possible.
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