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

Fri Jan 11 16:00:31 UTC 2013

Something doesn't make sense about this though.  How can you say you're 
happy being blind unless who you are is a blind person. Vision is a very 
handy thing. With vision you can catch a ball or run the high hurdles. You 
can appreciate a photograph of your kids. You can fly a plane or drive a 
taxi. Why wouldn't you want to be able to do those things?

If you're blind, there are a lot of things you can't do. But to me, that has 
nothing more to do with who I am than does not being able to do math like 
Albert Einstein or throw a football like Peyton Manning. That has nothing to 
do with who I am. I'm just not a blind guy.
Would I like to be able to do math like Albert Einstein or throw a football 
like Peyton Manning? Sure. Would I like to be able to see like everybody 
else? You bet.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mauricio Almeida" <mauriciopmalmeida at gmail.com>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, January 11, 2013 9:02 AM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Hebrew U scientists help blind 'see 'by 
activatingtheir visual brain cortex

> independently on what she meant to say, i agree with this point at least 
> as far as i am concerned.
> I never had vision, and I do not consider it important whatsoever, for I 
> never , and I repeat, never, suffered prejudice due to blindness, as to me 
> and to the people within my network prejudice hardly depends on us and how 
> we let it come and affect our existence.
> I am in favor of every single treatment available, for people should have 
> the right of having sight if they wish, i just wouldn't do any of them, 
> despite some people considering me crazy for not wanting such a cool thing 
> as sight.
>
> cheers
>
> mauricio
> On Jan 11, 2013, at 9:59 AM, "Todor Fassl" <fassl.tod at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> 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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>>
>>
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>
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