Spontaneous and training-induced visual learning in cortical blindness: characteristics and neural substrates.

Abstract

Visual learning has been intensively studied in higher mammals, both during development and in adulthood. What is less clear is the extent and properties such plasticity may acquire following permanent damage to the adult visual system. Answering this question is important. Aside from improving our understanding of visual processing in the absence of an intact visual circuitry, such knowledge is essential for the development of effective therapies to rehabilitate the increasing number of people who suffer the functional consequences of damage at different levels of their visual cortical hierarchy. This review summarizes the known characteristics of visual learning after adult visual cortex damage and begins to dissect some of the neural correlates of this process.