Visual Perception after Brain Surgery in
Kids with Epilepsy
Brain surgery for epilepsy in kids is
sometimes necessary to stop seizures and allow children to function. However,
brain surgery carries significant risks, including impairment in visual
perception.
Normal visual function requires not just information sent from the eye, but
also image and neurological processing in the brain that allows us to
understand and act on that information, or perception. Signals from the eye are
first processed in the early visual cortex, a region at the back of the brain
that is necessary for sight. They then travel through other parts of the
cerebral cortex, enabling recognition of patterns, faces, objects, scenes, and
written words. In adults, even if their sight is still present, injury or
removal of even a small area of the brain’s vision processing centers can lead
to dramatic, permanent loss of perception, making them unable to recognize
faces, locations, or to read, for example. But in children, who are still
developing, this part of the brain appears able to rewire itself, a process
known as plasticity.
According
to a study funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI),
part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), due to this neuroplasticity, children
can keep full visual perception—the ability to process and understand visual
information—after brain surgery for severe epilepsy. Plasticity is a sort of
“rewiring” process that can occur in children because they are still
developing.
If you or someone you know would like to
learn more children’s eye health & vision please call Doctor & Associates-203-227-4113, visit Doctor
& Associates in Fairfield County, or facebook.com/doctorandassociates
to schedule an appointment.
Doctor & Associates offices are
conveniently located at 129 Kings Highway North, Westport, Connecticut 06880,
195 Danbury Road, Wilton, Connecticut 06897 and 148 East Avenue, Norwalk,
Connecticut 06851.
