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Experience Project.
Most of us see with our eyes, but what if we could see with other parts of our body, too? The idea may seem ridiculous, but it's already been done. Nearly a half-century ago, maverick neuroscientist Paul Bach-y-Rita discovered that it was possible to "rewire" the adult brain, connecting regions in ways no one ever had imagined. Today, his ideas have given a handful of blind people the ability to see for the first time—using their tongues.
For a long time, scientists believed that after childhood, the brain became "fixed" in its ways and impossible to change. But Bach-y-Rita reasoned that because the nerves carrying messages from one part of the body to the brain are identical to those carrying messages from other body parts, it might actually be possible, even in adulthood, to substitute one sense for another.
So Bach-y-Rita went to work.
First he developed a device that translated images caught on camera into pulses that were transmitted onto a blind person's back. By figuring out what image was being "drawn" onto their backs, people could, in a sense, see the image that was in front of them.
Bach-y-Rita then shifted his medium from the back to the tongue, which is both covered in nerves and highly conductive. He developed a device called the BrainPort consisting of 625 sensors that deliver fine-grained spatial information to the tongue and, by extension, the brain. Over time, blind people using the device truly start "seeing": When the tongue is tapped, the regions of the brain associated with vision light up in response.
Joined: May 04, 2006 Posts: 3372 Location: Mid-Michigan
Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2007 8:27 am Post subject:
Interesting! Thanks NHE.
I'm not sure if it's related to plasticity, but one of the most interesting films I watched in high school was directed at proving that the brain "sees" and not the eyes.
The researchers had a guy wear a pair of eyeglasses which made him see everything upside down. After a period of time his brain adjusted so that, when wearing the glasses, everything became right side up and when he took the glasses off, everything became upside down.
I guess that actually involves "perception" more than plasticity, but in the long run I'm not sure how much difference there is in the two, other than in our definition.
Bob _________________ Wife diagnosed with MS in Feb. 2006 and is a participant in the Tovaxin IIb clinical trial.
Joined: Jul 28, 2005 Posts: 1272 Location: Sydney, Australia
Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 3:30 am Post subject:
I watched the later half of this video with great interest, and confusion...
The woman has physical damage to the sensory nerve in her inner ear. Now, no one is suggesting that the helmet heals this nerve damage, yet the woman appears to have returned balance. No one suggested that she had any brain damage either. So what has changed to return her balance? Has another physical part of the woman now feeding the brain replacement information? hairs on her head (would of been held down by the helmet), neck? what? I could understand that if another body part feeds similar information that brain plasticity could possibly rewire itself to make use the new input.
Ms. Schiltz, too, whose vestibular system was damaged by gentamicin, an inexpensive generic antibiotic used for Gram-negative infections, said that the first few times she used the BrainPort she felt tiny impulses on her tongue but still could not maintain her balance. But one day, after a full 20-minute session with the BrainPort, Ms. Schiltz opened her eyes and felt that something was different. She tilted her head back. The room did not move. "I went running out the door," she recalled. "I danced in the parking lot. I was completely normal. For a whole hour." Then, she said, the problem returned.
She tried more sessions. Soon her balance was restored for three hours, then half a day. Now working with the BrainPort team at the University of Wisconsin, Ms. Schiltz wears the tongue unit each morning. Her balance problems are gone as long as she keeps to the regimen.
How the device produces a lasting effect is being investigated. The vestibular system instructs the brain about changes in head movement with respect to the pull of gravity. Dr. Bach-y-Rita speculated that in some patients, a tiny amount of vestibular tissue might survive and be reactivated by the BrainPort.
Dr. Black said he had seen the same residual effect in his own pilot study. "It decays in hours to days," he said, "but is very encouraging."
Blind people who have used the device do not report lasting effects. But they are amazed by what they can see. Mr. Weihenmayer said the device at first felt like candy pop rocks on his tongue. But that sensation quickly gave way to perceptions of size, movement and recognition.
Joined: May 04, 2006 Posts: 3372 Location: Mid-Michigan
Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 1:19 pm Post subject:
Although it might not seem obvious, I think the mechanics behind this is directly related to overcoming the disability caused by MS.
The video truthfully mentions the "earlier assumption that after early childhood the brain was fixed" and to a large degree that incorrect assumption is still widely held.
In hindsight, shame on us! Obviously adults can still learn. That's the marvel of the brain. It tirelessly learns and adapts, and learning and adapting is synonymous with plasticity.
I think a precious lesson is that the process of utilizing plasticity, in the beginning and for a long time after, offers no positive feedback and seems like a lost cause but eventually and invariably does work and eventually stimulation on the tongue becomes seeing as if it were through your eyes.
In the same light, overcoming MS disability isn't going to be easy and obviously isn't going to be worth attempting until the disease process is stopped, but at this point there is no reason NOT to consider it certain that any degree of MS disability can eventually be overcome.
The question isn't really "if" but "how"?
What is going to be necessary to entice the creation of alternative circuitry to power someone's legs which haven't worked for 10 years, or their sense of feeling and even involuntary muscles?
The brain ravaged with MS still has plenty of capacity to accept these responsibilities, but how to entice it to create the necessary circuitry is the challenge which I hope someone in the research world is working on.
Cure wrote:
So what has changed to return her balance? Has another physical part of the woman now feeding the brain replacement information? hairs on her head (would of been held down by the helmet), neck? what? I could understand that if another body part feeds similar information that brain plasticity could possibly rewire itself to make use the new input.
I wondered the same thing. It's obvious why there is no "residual" effect for the blind guy. Seeing requires the input of outside data and removing the camera and input completely removes him of that, but it also seems obvious that the input from the accelerometers would continue to be necessary to control the lady's dizziness, and for some reason it's not.
Underlying the situation is the fact that the impossible can't happen, so there has to be a logical reason for the residual effect controlling the dizziness.
I think the reason is that for the blind guy when you take the sensor away he is left with no outside input. The lady with the dizziness, obviously she is left with some kind of input, but what is it? We all feel the directional sensory input of gravity on our entire bodies but we've never had to rely on it because we were originally "wired" to rely on the system in the inner ear designed for that purpose.
At least to my way of thinking, the time with the helmet allowed that lady the time and ability to rewire her brain to trust her eyes in regards to up and down and the sensory input of gravity on the rest of her body.
As with most cases, there is a lot we didn't find out from the video. Our natural assumption is that everything for her is perfect but we weren't told how much her balance deteriorates with her eyes closed or other problems she might be left with.
Bob _________________ Wife diagnosed with MS in Feb. 2006 and is a participant in the Tovaxin IIb clinical trial.
Wicab conducted a clinical trial with the balance device in 2005 with 28 subjects suffering from bilateral vestibular disorders (BVD). After training on BrainPort, all of the subjects regained their sense of balance for a period of time, sometimes up to six hours after each 20-minute BrainPort session. They could control their body movements and walk steadily in a variety of environments with a normal gait and with fine-motor control. They experienced muscle relaxation, emotional calm, improved vision and depth perception and normalized sleep patterns
Study Results
Vestibular Study Results Summary
This summary compiles data from 93 subjects with balance deficits
The BrainPort Balance Device as a Potential Training Aid in the Rehabilitation of Balance Following Vestibular Surgery
ARO (Association of Research in Otolaryngology) 2008 poster presentation
The BrainPort Balance Device as a Potential Aid in the Rehabilitation of Balance and Mobility after Stroke or Traumatic Brain Injury
SFN (Society for Neuroscience) 2007 poster presentation
Training with the Brainport Balance Device Has the Potential to Decrease Falls in Elderly Patients with Vestibular Disorders
ARO 2007 poster presentation
A New Rehabilitation Treatment for Instability
Rehabilitation of Chronic Balance Disorders Using the BrainPort Balance Device
Nothing for MS, but I think I might still see if I can "try" one. Their form does have a "country" field.
Joined: May 04, 2006 Posts: 3372 Location: Mid-Michigan
Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 8:09 pm Post subject:
Awesome! Thanks for being so diligent Cure.
Plasticity is such an interesting field which has yet to come into it's own when considering what we think we know, what we know and what we have yet to learn of MS and the damage it causes.
Bob _________________ Wife diagnosed with MS in Feb. 2006 and is a participant in the Tovaxin IIb clinical trial.
Joined: Jul 28, 2005 Posts: 1272 Location: Sydney, Australia
Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2008 5:34 pm Post subject:
I got a response from the BrainPort people.
Quote:
Thank you for your interest in BrainPort® balance device.
We have not yet conducted any research with patients suffering from MS. Our clinical research so far has been targeting patients with balance problems due to peripheral or central vestibular dysfunctions.
Please let me know if I can help any further.
Best wishes,
Sona Walter
Mgr. Sona Walter | Marketing Manager
Wicab Europe | Antwerpsesteenweg 124
2630 Aartselaar | Belgium
I heard one time that there was concern about this type of thing because it might be possible to accidentally wire a brain, for example, to feel pain when there should be none. On the flip-side of that, though, maybe there is a possible pain treatment in this.
Terry
Joined: Jul 28, 2005 Posts: 1272 Location: Sydney, Australia
Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 2:02 am Post subject:
I was interested from the start about the balance aspects; which the current commercialised unit is explicitly for. However, I guess I never explicitly state it. Its the balance stuff that catches my eye.
Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 4:50 am Post subject: Re: Brain plasticity
Terry wrote:
I heard one time that there was concern about this type of thing because it might be possible to accidentally wire a brain, for example, to feel pain when there should be none. On the flip-side of that, though, maybe there is a possible pain treatment in this.
MS has rewired my brain. I know that this sounds extreme. However, after reading The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge, I am convinced that this conclusion is correct. For the last 9 years since my diagnosis I have had neuropathic pain in my right foot. I have never taken any medications for this pain. I have just tried to ignore it the best that I can and get on with my life. Norman Doidge's book talks about function creep. In effect, if a certain set of neurons are no longer used for a particular process, then functions controlled by neurons in the surrounding areas of the brain will begin to map themselves onto the under used neurons. This pattern of neuroplasticity is particularly prevalent in cases of amputation or where digits are bound together such that physically function as one unit rather than separate identities. In any case, I have experienced this function creep with respect to my leg and my leg continues to worsen (I now experience a bit of foot drop that I never used to have). If this brain port device could by chance rewire my brain back towards where it used to be, then I would consider that a good thing. Like CureOrBust, I would also be willing to volunteer.
Joined: May 04, 2006 Posts: 3372 Location: Mid-Michigan
Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 3:32 pm Post subject: Re: Brain plasticity
NHE wrote:
In any case, I have experienced this function creep with respect to my leg and my leg continues to worsen (I now experience a bit of foot drop that I never used to have). If this brain port device could by chance rewire my brain back towards where it used to be, then I would consider that a good thing. Like CureOrBust, I would also be willing to volunteer.
I think researchers have only scratched the surface in what plasticity is capable of and how we can best aid plasticity......and it's obvious that in many/most cases we've going to have to help plasticity "realize" what we expect of it, much like teaching an infant the concept of the desire to learn is usually much difficult than the learning process itself.
Once we discover the best ways to convince the brain that we expect it to heal itself and HOW to heal itself, the actual healing process (plasticity) might not be all that difficult or uncertain.
Bob _________________ Wife diagnosed with MS in Feb. 2006 and is a participant in the Tovaxin IIb clinical trial.
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