…with an artificial retina. This is great news. But I wonder how it would work for someone born blind. Could their brains learn to see?
[Update a while later]
There seems to be some confusion in comments. My point was that even if the brain starts to get the visual signal, it may not be able to learn how to use it. Learning to interpret the input and translate it into a map of the world is something that happens very early in development, and if it doesn’t happen, like language, it may not be possible to learn it as an adult.
Having some experience with this having been blinded in my left eye at birth, the visual cortex may not have developed enough to handle the new input, or so I’m told. But I would be willing to be an experimental subject.
Unfortunately, I think they’ve done some research with kittens indicating that it’s like language; if you don’t learn it early in development, you never do. But in your case, you have have the necessary software installed from your good eye.
I guess it would depend on the reason for the blindness.
It depends on why they were blind. If there was a problem with the optic nerve or the part of the back of the brain that handles vision, probably not. If the problem was just the retina, maybe.
I understand that in prior years several other attempts to restore vision have been tested on folks that once had sight and had lost it, giving the researchers a good frame of reference for the responses from the people being tested. I heard that those tests had produced some moderate success in basic shape recognition, but this approach looks to far exceed those prior attempts
I spent years debating with myself about getting my eyeballs sliced (R.K.) Then watching as the price for laser surgery kept coming down. None of which would have helped with my retinopathy. So now I have hope for a backup plan!
I think the brain can be taught to adapt to any signals it receives, but that’s not saying it would be easy or natural.
I think the brain can be taught to adapt to any signals it receives, but that’s not saying it would be easy or natural.
The brain is elastic, so this is my suspicion too. Vision is such a constant stimulus that adaption could happen very fast.
Maybe, and I hope we get to find out, but we know that children raised without language never learn to speak. And that learning a second language as a child makes the acquisition of others easier as an adult. Very important things happen in early brain development.
Dunno my interpretation of the article is there just triggering the nerves for the eyes and the pathway from the retina nerves to the brain neurons are still functional . There also not dealing with complex mechanisms and reactions that may not have developed when someone is blind. There no dilation focusing mechanisms in someone blind from birth assuming it not hard coded let alone the muscle development.
For someone born blind I am guessing maybe you can manipulate the sensor output to convey limited information input not true sight to the user. But the tuning and training cost would be inhabited. And retina path to the brain has to be working.
My guess on 1 eye blind, it not just the software it the routing to the right neurons and sight is complex enough that each input needs dedicated hardware/neurons along with some more to interpolate the two for depth perception and filling in the blanks between the two pictures.