[nfb-talk] Hebrew U scientists help blind 'see 'by activating their visual brain cortex

Joshua Lester JLester8462 at PCCUAEDU.onmicrosoft.com
Fri Jan 11 15:27:00 UTC 2013


All of this electronic stuff that's coming out to help with brain function reminds me of one thing.
If you're a believer like I am, the book of Revelation has alot to say about this kind of stuff.
Blessings, Joshua
________________________________________
From: nfb-talk [nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] on behalf of Buddy Brannan [buddy at brannan.name]
Sent: Friday, January 11, 2013 9:19 AM
To: NFB Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Hebrew U scientists help blind  'see    'by     activating      their visual brain cortex

Hi Joshua,

Your optic nerve has absolutely no bearing on the study they're talking about in this article. You still have a brain, I assume, and that's what was being studied.

Anyway, I wrote up something on my blog on this a couple days ago. Below:

Thoughts On Technology and Artificial Sight
Posted by Buddy Brannan on January 9th, 2013 filed in Uncategorized
Comment now »
Today, in reading through one of the far too many Email lists I’m on, I saw this article posted. I read it with some interest. I mean, it’s technology. It’s electronic. The future is now. Right? We’re living science fiction today. OK, you get the idea. Then, I read this one-line response to the article. It said, and this is a direct quote, “No thanks.”

No thanks?

No elaboration?

OK, we’re all entitled to an opinion, and, like myself, I’m sure the poster of this particular opinion is an expert on her opinion. But the inevitable question, in my mind anyway, is “Why not?” To flesh that out a bit more, I’d ask, and in fact, did ask, this way:

Why not? I think it’s possible that such sensory substitution could be useful some day. I also feel fairly confident that such sensory substitution won’t replace sight or turn blind people into sighted people. If such technology could be developed and implemented such that adjustment to it would be fairly straightforward and take relatively little time from our otherwise productive and busy lives, what objection do you have?

Hearing none, apart from “Everything else works fine”, this time paraphrasing, plus another pointing out that such a lot of noise or music for everything we “saw” would be distracting and bothersome, I asked:

By way of playing devil’s advocate, no one says that it has to be sound substitution that’s used in some eventually useful device, as opposed to something that’s merely a proof of concept. For instance, there’s the thing that projects images onto the tongue. This would not be my preferred medium, as I flap my gums too much to want anything to interfere with that. Still, nothing says that the sensory substitution has to be sound, or for that matter, has to be in any way connected to the ears. It could be sound via bone conduction like the Aftershokz headphones, for instance. Maybe someone will do something useful with the Flanagan Neurophone. What do I know? I’m just saying I think it’s a mistake to dismiss any such developments out of hand. Besides, nothing says one would have to use something like this all the time, nor that alternative techniques of blindness will overnight become obsolete or lose their effectiveness. But if at some later date such a technology could be implemented such that it is useful in whatever circumstance, and could be trained with a minimum of interruption to our already busy lives, what’s the objection? Especially f it could be turned off when it is either not useful or distracting in some situation?

People ask me occasionally, as I’m sure someone asks most blind people at least occasionally, if I wouldn’t like to be able to see. When I was a kid, I never gave it much thought, but adults seemed to want this thing for me, so I guess I thought it would be all right, but it was never something I just yearned to have. As I grew up (or grew older, anyway), I had more occasion to think about this and understand what it means. C’mon, let’s face it, when you’re a kid, someone asks you something like that, do you really know what it means? I don’t think I did. The conclusion I came to was, no, I didn’t really have this burning desire or need to be able to see. I now lead a full and productive life. I have a family, a job, fulfilling hobbies, more fulfilling relationships and friendships, in short, all the best things that life has to offer, all the things that really matter. How would sight change these things for me, or make them better? Besides, I’d have all sorts of adjustments to make; no one knows how to see, it’s something you learn as a baby, as a toddler, and as you grow up and integrate this thing into your life. I’d have to learn, not only what things look like, but how to do pretty much everything, from reading to cooking to walking around and not being scared that something is going to hit me. Sure, sometimes being blind is a pain in the ass, but in reality, the only thing that I really wish were different is that it’s a pain not to be able to drive a car. And that’s mostly because driving is so necessary to society. Don’t get me started on what people seem to feel is their God-given right to be out on the road, or on how horribly inadequate public transportation is, or any number of things. But I digress. Anyway, if I were to suddenly get eyesight, this wouldn’t change for me.

When I express such a view to people, I get one of two reactions. Shock that I wouldn’t want such a monumentally wonderful thing as eyesight, or else understanding. Maybe it’s pretend understanding but shock in reality, that might be the third reaction.

So, in a way, I see what the “no thanks” people are saying. But in another way? A couple dozen hours isn’t that much time. So, if some method for some sensory substitution were developed that would minimally impact my life, requiring a minimum of training, and would be actually useful, would I do it? Maybe, I’d have to weigh the benefits versus the cost in time and so on, and also the potential gain in opportunity, knowledge, freedom, and so forth. I certainly wouldn’t dismiss it out of hand, though, because every step leads to other things. Maybe some day we’ll have Geordie’s Star Trek visor, which wouldn’t be a bad thing.

If some such technology became widely available, and useful, and if I could turn it off when it got annoying, I’d probably do it. Heck, I’d probably participate in a research study for such a technology, if only because it would be interesting, and again, if I could turn it off.

Two things that would provide some food for thought if you haven’t read them. One is a factual account, the other is science fiction, and i bring it up only because its portrayal of what adjustment to sight might be like seems unrealistic on several levels. First, the speed at which the adjustment occurs, second, the fixation on Helen Keller and the things the blind character couldn’t do blind but then was expected to pick up sighted. But besides that, they’re really good books.

        • Crashing Through
        • WWW: Wake (WWW Trilogy)
I’m not going to link to all three books in the trilogy, but if you like the first one, you have to finish the other two also.

Would love your thoughts on this, so keep those cards and letters coming.


--
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY



On Jan 11, 2013, at 10:07 AM, Joshua Lester <JLester8462 at PCCUAEDU.onmicrosoft.com> wrote:

> Wow!
> I doubt it would work for me, since I have no optic nerve.
> BTW, Mrs. Whipple I agree with your centiment.
> We need to be content with what we have.
> Even the Apostle Paul instructs us to do so, and it's common sense!
> Contentment would do away with the greed problem we have here in this world, as well!
> JMHO!
> Blessings, Joshua
> ________________________________________
> From: nfb-talk [nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] on behalf of Todor Fassl [fassl.tod at gmail.com]
> Sent: Friday, January 11, 2013 8:59 AM
> To: NFB Talk Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Hebrew U scientists help blind 'see     'by     activating      their visual brain cortex
>
> When you reply that way, it implies that you are ssaying that people should
> be happy with who they are instead of jumping through all these hoops to get
> some vision. You may not have intended to say that but that's the way it
> comes off. I mean, that's just the way people are going to take it. It may
> just be a communication problem. Did you intend to say that blind people
> should be happy being who they are rather than going through all this stuff
> to get some limited vision?
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Gloria Whipple" <glowhi at centurylink.net>
> To: "'NFB Talk Mailing List'" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2013 3:53 PM
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Hebrew U scientists help blind 'see 'by activating
> their visual brain cortex
>
>
>> If those who want it, go for it@
>>
>> I have been blind all of my life and my fingers still work.
>> I am happy with what I have.
>>
>> Gloria Whipple
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nfb-talk [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Buddy
>> Brannan
>> Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2013 13:45
>> To: NFB Talk Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Hebrew U scientists help blind 'see ' by
>> activating
>> their visual brain cortex
>>
>> Why not? I think it's possible that such sensory substitution could be
>> useful some day. I also feel fairly confident that such sensory
>> substitution
>> won't replace sight or turn blind people into sighted people. If such
>> technology could be developed and implemented such that adjustment to it
>> would be fairly straightforward and take relatively little time from our
>> otherwise productive and busy lives, what objection do you have?
>> --
>> Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
>> Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY
>>
>>
>>
>> On Jan 9, 2013, at 4:36 PM, Gloria Whipple <glowhi at centurylink.net> wrote:
>>
>>> No thanks!
>>>
>>> Gloria Whipple
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: nfb-talk [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Ed
>>> Meskys
>>> Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2013 13:16
>>> To: nfb-talk; nhblind-talk
>>> Subject: [nfb-talk] Fw: Hebrew U scientists help blind 'see ' by
>> activating
>>> their visual brain cortex
>>>
>>> To: edmeskys at roadrunner.com
>>> Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2013 6:11 PM
>>> Subject: Hebrew U scientists help blind 'see ' by activating their visual
>>> brain cortex
>>>
>>>
>>> Hebrew U scientists help blind 'see with eye music'
>>> By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
>>> Jerusalem Post 01/08/2013
>>> Device for sensory exchange activates visual cortex to help those born
>> blind
>>> describe objects, letters and words.
>>> By activating their visual brain cortex, people who were born blind can
>>> describe objects and even identify letters and words, with the proper
>>> stimulation and using a device for sensory exchange developed by Hebrew
>>> University researchers.
>>>
>>> The research team, headed by Prof. Amir Amedi of the Edmond and Lilly
>> Safra
>>> Center for Brain Sciences and Institute for Medical Research
>>> Israel-Canada
>>> and including doctoral student Ella Streim- Amit, has just published
>>> their
>>> findings in the journal Neuron; a summary of their research also appeared
>> in
>>> the journal Science.
>>>
>>> They developed a unique training program for seeing using the device,
>> which
>>> transfers visual information to the blind via their healthy senses.
>>>
>>> The device translates pictures into tones; after a few dozen hours of
>>> training, the blind from birth can identify images and put them in visual
>>> categories such as faces, houses, parts of the body, ordinary objects and
>>> textures.
>>>
>>> They can also locate people, identify facial expressions and read letters
>>> and words, thus being able to "see" enough to exceed the World Health
>>> Organization minimum to be regarded as sighted.
>>>
>>> Amedi said on Sunday that for decades, it is has been known that if the
>>> visual cortex does not receive visual information after birth, it doesn't
>>> properly develop the normal visual structure and skills, and thus visual
>>> reconstruction was thought to be impossible. But when the team checked
>> what
>>> happens in the brains of blind people who learned to "see" via sounds,
>> their
>>> visual cortex functioned even though they had learned to process images
>> only
>>> when they reached adulthood, he said.
>>>
>>> The researchers also found that the brains of the blind from birth had
>>> visual preferences similar to those with normal sight when they reacted
>>> to
>>> different kinds of visual stimulation. For example, the part of the brain
>>> used for reading showed that in the blind, as in the sighted, there was
>>> increased activity in reaction to pictures of letters and words. In
>>> addition, this region proved to be so flexible that one of the blind
>> people
>>> tested was able to react to such images after a two-hour training
>>> session.
>>>
>>> "The brain of adults is more flexible that what we assumed," Amedi said.
>>>
>>> "These findings show it may be that the brains of blind people, even for
>>> long periods, can 'wake up' to process vision through rehabilitation,
>>> including new medical developments such as retinal implants [artificial
>>> eyes]."
>>>
>>> Additional research in the field by Amedi's team with Dr. Sheli
>>> Levi-Zedek
>>> that was published in the journal Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience
>>> presented a device for sensory exchange. Using it, the blind from birth
>>> could cover their eyes and still carry out rapid and exact movements
>> toward
>>> targets. Using a non-invasive device called "eye music" involving
>>> pleasant
>>> music, the blind were able to "see" with sounds.
>>>
>>> In training sessions of as little as half an hour, 18 blind from birth
>>> people were able to tell the difference between a red or a green apple.
>>>
>>> This paves the way for future hybrid devices, including a receptor
>> implanted
>>> in the eye together with "eye music."
>>> ____________________________________________________________
>>> Fast, Secure, NetZero 4G Mobile Broadband. Try it.
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