The Journal of physiology
-
The Journal of physiology · Dec 1974
Phosphenes produced by electrical stimulation of human occipital cortex, and their application to the development of a prosthesis for the blind.
1. To explore the feasibility of a visual prosthesis for the blind, human visual cortex has been stimulated during a series of surgical procedures on conscious volunteers undergoing other occipital lobe surgery.2. Area no. 17 seems the most effective locus for such stimulation, at least in sighted or recently hemianopic patients.3. ⋯ Multiple phosphenes are co-planar, although patients are unable to estimate their distance.17. Phosphenes appear immediately when stimulation is begun, and disappear immediately upon cessation of stimulation.18. Future work must concentrate on blind volunteers to explore possible differences in subjective sensation produced after prolonged blindness, and to explore more complex pattern presentation which requires substantial periods of time with any given patient.