24 Nov '12 02:04>
It's just the beginning but a promising technology:
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-patient-words-retina.html#ajTabs
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-patient-words-retina.html#ajTabs
Originally posted by apathistThat sounds reasonable since the brain had not had visual input so the cells usually reserved for vision were used for other things and the vision paths had to be started up from scratch.
Wonderful application of technology!
I was wondering about people blind from birth: would restoring their vision ever really allow them to see? I found a short ScienceBlogs article (http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2008/11/11/can-a-blind-person-whose-visio/) about a 12-yo blind from birth, although she could determine night from day (so her neuron ...[text shortened]... using sight, and at least seven years later there were still odd hiccups in her vision ability.
Originally posted by sonhouseI think this has potential in the medium run. In the long run I see a more organic solution that uses a person's DNA to grow new retinae in a petrie dish that can be surgically implanted.
That sounds reasonable since the brain had not had visual input so the cells usually reserved for vision were used for other things and the vision paths had to be started up from scratch.
There was a great american folk singer, Doc Watson, RIP, who was blind from the age of about 4. Now a person like that, if they had technological solutions for his vis ...[text shortened]... glasses that let him see more or less normally.
Science is catching up with science fiction.
Originally posted by SoothfastWhy stop at replacing just the retina when you could replace the whole brain so that the connects are immediately just right for visual perception?
I think this has potential in the medium run. In the long run I see a more organic solution that uses a person's DNA to grow new retinae in a petrie dish that can be surgically implanted.