Bar-Ilan University and Stanford University scientists discover mind can consolidate normal and fake vision to help treat Macular degeneration.
A viable treatment for Macular degeneration (AMD), which causes visual deficiency in a huge number of individuals in the Western world, could be on the cards later on.
Another examination done by analysts from Bar-Ilan University and Stanford University found, just because, proof showing that the mind realizes how to coordinate regular and counterfeit vision, while keeping up handling data that is significant for vision.
Prof. Yossi Mandel, head of Bar-Ilan University’s Ophthalmic Science and Engineering Lab and the examination’s lead creator, disclosed to The Jerusalem Post that AMD represents Age-related Macular Degeneration, which “is caused by ageing changes of the light receptors (photoreceptor layer and an adjacent supporting layer called retinal pigment epithelium.”
“Continuous exposure of these layers to light, heat and oxidative stress cause chronic damage which eventually can lead to photoreceptors loss and blindness,” they said. “AMD is the leading cause of blindness in the western world” among those matured 50 and over, and its commonness increments with age.
In spite of the fact that there is no solution for AMD, huge late headways in fake retina inserts may prompt successful treatment.
Inside the eye’s retina are light receptors or photoreceptors, which ingest light, a press explanation said.
“Information is then processed and transmitted to the brain. The macula, the central area of the retina, processes most of the information that reaches the brain from the eye, enabling one to see while reading and driving, facial recognition, and any other activity that requires accurate vision,” it continued. “ In the peripheral retina, the area of the retina outside the macula that assists mainly with spatial judgment, vision is 10-20 times less precise.”
In AMD exact vision is disabled because of harm to the focal point of the retina, while fringe vision stays ordinary.
The specialists clarified that when there is harm to the photoreceptor layers in the retina, a counterfeit retina – a gadget worked from minor anodes littler in width than a hair – might be embedded.
“Activating these electrodes results in electrical stimulation of the remaining retinal cells and results in visual restoration, albeit partially,” they said in the statement. “AMD patients implanted with an artificial retina possess a combination of artificial central vision and normal peripheral vision.”
Mandel featured that it is essential to contemplate the blend of counterfeit and normal vision “in order to understand how to help the blind.”
“One of the critical questions in this regard is whether the brain can integrate artificial and natural vision properly,” they addded.
Mandel told the Post that the examination was directed in their lab during a procedure of around two years and was fundamentally conveyed by Tamar Arens-Arad as a component of their doctoral investigations.
“This is part of a long collaboration with Prof. Daniel Palanker of Stanford University, who developed the retinal prosthetic device,” they said. “The device is composed of tenth of tiny solar cells, each is connected to an electrode” and the gadget is embedded beneath the retina of rodents.
“We have developed a unique projection system that can project invisible light or visible light (green light) to stimulate either the prosthetic device or the normal adjacent retina, respectively, while recording the activity of the visual cortex, which is the area in the brain responsible for processing the information arriving from the retina,” they continued. “Using this model enables us to study the interactions between prosthetic (artificial) and natural vision.”
Concurring Arens-Arad, the specialists “used a unique projection system which stimulated either natural vision, artificial vision or a combination of natural and artificial vision, while simultaneously recording the cortical responses in rodents implanted with a subretinal implant.”
“The implant is composed of dozens of tiny solar cells and electrodes, developed by Prof. Daniel Palanker at Stanford University,” Arens-Arad included.
For Mandel, “these pioneering results have implications for better restoration of sight in AMD patients implanted with retinal prosthetic devices and support our hypothesis that prosthetic and natural vision can be integrated in the brain.”
“The results could also have implications for future brain-machine interface applications where artificial and natural processes co-exist,” they featured.
Gotten some information about when this could be accessible to patients, they said “the treatment is under evaluation in humans.”
Mandel said that the creature ponders empowers us to think about essential inquiries, which can not be acted in people. “For example, it is very difficult to non-invasively record brain activity in humans at high resolution.”
“These studies can aid in deepening our understanding on prosthetic vision and improving the vision restoration in humans,” they emphasized. “We are now carrying more research to study brain activity using optical recording which enable high resolution recording during prosthetic activation.”
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