Visual Cortical Plasticity in Retinitis Pigmentosa.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Retinitis pigmentosa is a family of genetic diseases inducing progressive photoreceptor degeneration. There is no cure for retinitis pigmentosa, but prospective therapeutic strategies are aimed at restoring or substituting retinal input. Yet, it is unclear whether the visual cortex of retinitis pigmentosa patients retains plasticity to react to the restored visual input.

Methods

To investigate short-term visual cortical plasticity in retinitis pigmentosa, we tested the effect of short-term (2 hours) monocular deprivation on sensory ocular dominance (measured with binocular rivalry) in a group of 14 patients diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa with a central visual field sparing greater than 20° in diameter.

Results

After deprivation most patients showed a perc

SUBMITTER: Lunghi C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6746622 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature