Spontaneous and training-induced cortical plasticity in MD patients: Hints from lateral masking.

ABSTRACT: Macular degeneration (MD) affects central vision and represents the leading cause of visual diseases in elderly population worldwide. As a consequence of central vision loss, MD patients develop a preferred retinal locus (PRL), an eccentric fixation point that replaces the fovea. Here, our aim was to determine whether and to what extent spontaneous plasticity takes place in the cortical regions formerly responding to central vision and whether a visual training based on perceptual learning (PL) can boost this plasticity within the PRL area. Spontaneous and PL-induced cortical plasticity were characterized by using lateral masking, a contrast sensitivity modulation induced by collinear flankers. This configuration is known to be sensitive to neural plasticity and underlies several rehabilit

SUBMITTER: Maniglia M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5758612 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature