Blindness, Brain Mapping, Healthy
Conditions
Keywords
Plasticity, Magnetic Stimulation, PET, Blind, Braille, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
Brief summary
The purpose of this study is to test the belief that specific areas of the brain are connected differently in blind patients than patients with sight. In addition, the study will examine the different anatomical connections between brain areas of patients who became blind early in life versus patients who became blind later.
Detailed description
The purpose of this protocol is to test the hypothesis that the anatomical connectivity of occipital and somatosensory areas in early blind subjects differs from that in subjects who became blind later in life and from that in sighted volunteers.
Interventions
DRUGO15
DEVICECadwell rTMS
Sponsors
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Subjects with late blindness. Subjects with early blindness. Sighted volunteers. Age between 18 and 65 years.
Exclusion criteria
Subjects with personal or family history of seizures or other neurological or demyelinating disorders. Pregnant women tested after urine pregnancy test. Subjects with metal in the cranium except mouth. Subjects with intracardiac lines and implanted medication pumps. Subjects with increased intracranial pressure as evaluated by clinical means. Subjects with cardiac pacemakers. Intake or neuroleptics. Subjects with blindness secondary to degenerative CNS diseases.
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed