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, a friend, relative or acquaintance has a child who suffers from visual
perception problems please schedule an eye exam at D’Ambrosio Eye
Care at 800-325-3937, visit D’Ambrosio
Eye Care,
or facebook.com/dambrosioeyecare so that we can help.
D'Ambrosio Eye Care provides eye care for patients throughout
greater Boston, central and western Massachusetts with office locations at 479
Old Union Turnpike, Lancaster, Massachusetts 01523, 865 Merriam Avenue, Suite
119, Leominster, Massachusetts 01453, 100 Powder Mill Road, Acton,
Massachusetts 01720, 413 Main Street, Athol, Massachusetts 01331, 74 Main
Street, Gardner, Massachusetts 01440 and 255 Park Avenue, Suite 606, Worcester,
Massachusetts 01609.
