Cited by 103Neuroscience and Neural EngineeringVisual perception and processing mechanismsTactile and Sensory Interactions

Learning to see again: biological constraints on cortical plasticity and the implications for sight restoration technologies

Open access
Beyeler, Michael, Rokem, Ariel, Boynton, Geoffrey M, Fine, Ione·2017·Journal of Neural Engineering

Published version of a preprint

Abstract

The ‘bionic eye’—so long a dream of the future—is finally becoming a reality with retinal prostheses available to patients in both the US and Europe. However, clinical experience with these implants has made it apparent that the visual information provided by these devices differs substantially from normal sight. Consequently, the ability of patients to learn to make use of this abnormal retinal input plays a critical role in whether or not some functional vision is successfully regained. 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 prosthetic vision. We begin with describing the distortion and information loss likely to be experienced by visual prosthesis users. We then define cortical plasticity and perceptual learning, and 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 might eventually be harnessed to improve visual learning in these patients.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1088/1741-2552/aa795e

Cites

228 of 228 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • This number might underestimate the real needs of implanted patients due to the perceptual and behavioural learning required to adapt to artificial vision.

    “However, this number might underestimate the real needs of implanted patients due to the perceptual and behavioural learning required to adapt to artificial vision [121,122].”

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

2 of the 230 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. Fine I Smallman HS Doyle PG Macleod DIA 2002b Visual function before and after the removal of congenital bilateral cataracts in adulthood Vision Research 42 191 210 11809473
  2. Fine I Wade AR Brewer AA May MG Goodman DF Boynton GM Wandell BA Macleod DI 2003b Long-term deprivation affects visual perception and cortex Nat Neurosci 6 915 6 12937420
  3. Pioneer Press 2015 ‘Bionic eye’ helps Duluth man make out his dark world Twin Cities Pioneer Press

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Beyeler, M., Rokem, A., Boynton, G. M., & Fine, I.
Affiliations
University of Washington (US)
Corresponding author
Beyeler, Michael
Venue
Journal of Neural Engineering
Published
2017-08-22
Volume
14
Issue
5
Pages
051003
ISSN
  • 1741-2552 (ISSN-L)
  • 1741-2560
OpenAlex
W2950139901
Cited by
102
References
230
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 7 · 2015: 1
FWCI
1.45
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Neural Engineering (publishedVersion)
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
  • Washington Research Foundation (Funds for Innovation in Neuroengineering and Data-Intensive Discovery (MB))
  • Alfred P Sloan Foundation
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neural Engineering
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Tactile and Sensory Interactions
Keywords
retinal prosthesis, cortical plasticity, visual plasticity, perceptual learning, vision restoration, hierarchical visual processing, developmental plasticity, adult plasticity, visual learning
MeSH terms
Humans, Learning, Neuronal Plasticity, Visual Cortex, Visual Perception, Visual Prosthesis, Optogenetics

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review