PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Michael Beyeler
AU  - Ariel Rokem
AU  - Geoffrey M. Boynton
AU  - Ione Fine
TI  - Learning to see again: biological constraints on cortical plasticity and the implications for sight restoration technologies
AID  - 10.1101/115188
DP  - 2017 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 115188
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/03/09/115188.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/03/09/115188.full
AB  - The bionic eye – so long a dream of the future – is finally becoming a reality with retinal prostheses available to patients in the US and Europe. However, clinical experience with these implants has made it apparent that the vision restored by these devices differs substantially from normal sight. Consequently, the ability to learn to make use of this abnormal retinal input plays a critical role in whether or not some functional vision is successfully restored. The goal of the present review is to summarize the vast basic science literature on developmental and adult cortical plasticity with an emphasis on how this literature might relate to the field of sight recovery. We begin with formal definitions of cortical plasticity and perceptual learning. We then describe what is known, and what is unknown, about visual plasticity across the hierarchy of brain regions involved in visual processing, and across different stages of life. We close by discussing what is known about brain plasticity in sight restoration patients and discuss biological mechanisms that could be harnessed in future technologies to improve visual learning in these patients.