Volunteers Wanted For
Studies of the Visual Brain
Scientific
Background
Our Stanford research group
is trying to understand what happens in the brain following retinal
disease. When part of the retina is damaged, particularly when central retina
is damaged, there is a large region of the brain that is deprived of its
input. There is a great deal of uncertainty in the scientific and medical
community about whether that part of the brain changes when deprived
of its input. Is the brain region taken over by signals from healthy
retina? Or does it just lay dormant?
These questions are of
particular interest now because of the development of retinal implant
technologies. When an implant is inserted, the expectation is that implant
signals will drive those parts of brain that have been deprived of retinal
signals. But if these regions have been taken over by other parts of the
nervous system, say they are now used for heightened sensation of sound or
touch, retinal implants may not function as intended.
Volunteers
We are seeking volunteers
with retinal disorders.
Contact Information
If you can help us, or you
know someone who might be willing to help This picture shows brain measurements
of one of the people in our research group.
The picture shows the right half of a brain, viewed from the middle. The brain has been smoothed to make it
easier to see different parts. The colored regions are within the visual brain. The different colors show different parts of
the visual brain. We study the functions these parts serve. Experiments Our experiments involve a
commitment of about 2-3 hours at Stanford (plus travel time). We
can schedule the experiments at many convenient times, either during the day,
or an evening, or a weekend. We would be happy to help arrange
transportation, as well. Before participating in the
experiment, we review some health information to make sure the volunteer can
safely enter the MR scanner. Most people can do so safely, though there
are certain exclusionary conditions (pregnancy, pacemaker implants, other metal
implants, claustrophobia). Also, we explain the
experiment and answer any questions that the volunteer might have. The MR experiment begins with
a measurement of brain structure (anatomical measurement). This takes
about 30 minutes. During the structural measurement, the subject does
nothing. After a short break, we measure
brain activity (functional measurement). During the measurement of
activity, the subject looks at a simple pattern of flickering
squares. We understand that for most individuals with macular
degeneration, parts of the pattern will not be visible. That is
fine. This takes about 45 minutes. We reimburse costs and pay
30 dollars/hour as a token of our appreciation. Although the experiment
will not help the volunteer, we hope that the knowledge will be of value as
retinal implant technologies develop. Thank you again for passing
this information on. We believe that these experiments can be important
contributions to human understanding, and we would be very grateful for the
help of any volunteers you could identify.
please contact
Professor Brian Wandell or Serge Dumoulin.
