M-BIC Lecture: Brigitte Röder

Full professor, Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Hamburg and Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Medicine Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany

The role of early visual experience for the development of the human visual system

Abstract:

Non-human animal research has demonstrated the crucial role of early visual experience for visual cortex development. However, research in humans is rare and yet the neural mechanisms and degree of recovery after a transient phase of congenital blindness several years after sight restoration surgery are still unknown. 

In my talk I will present some recent studies in individuals who were born blind due to bilateral dense cataracts and who had undergone sight restoration surgery partially only in childhood. Brain imaging studies and non-invasive electrophysiological studies suggest a recovery of the basic organization and function of the visual cortex in these individuals. However, they additionally demonstrate that the precise tuning and interaction of neural subsystems crucially depend on early visual input. Thus, research in sight recovery individuals with a history of congenital cataract provides a window into the general neural mechanisms of sensitive periods in human brain development.