The Connection Between Areas in the Brain of Blind Patients

• Sponsor: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) (NIH)
• Overall Status: Completed
• CT.gov ID: NCT00001926
• Collaborator: (none)
• Enrollment: 45
• Location: 1
• Duration (Months): 55
• Patients Per Site Per Month: 0.8

Study Details

Study Description

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to test the belief that specific areas of the brain are connected differently in blind patients than patients with sight. In addition, the study will examine the different anatomical connections between brain areas of patients who became blind early in life versus patients who became blind later.

Condition or Disease	Intervention/Treatment	Phase
Blindness; Brain Mapping; Healthy	Drug: O15; Device: Cadwell rTMS

Detailed Description

The purpose of this protocol is to test the hypothesis that the anatomical connectivity of occipital and somatosensory areas in early blind subjects differs from that in subjects who became blind later in life and from that in sighted volunteers.

Study Design

• Study Type: Observational
• Official Title: Connectivity of Occipital and Somatosensory Cortical Areas in Blind Subjects
• Study Start Date: Apr 1, 1999
• Study Completion Date: Nov 1, 2003

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

Eligibility Criteria

Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: N/A and Older
• Sexes Eligible for Study: All
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

INCLUSION CRITERIA:

Subjects with late blindness.

Subjects with early blindness.

Sighted volunteers.

Age between 18 and 65 years.

EXCLUSION CRITERIA:

Subjects with personal or family history of seizures or other neurological or demyelinating disorders.

Pregnant women tested after urine pregnancy test.

Subjects with metal in the cranium except mouth.

Subjects with intracardiac lines and implanted medication pumps.

Subjects with increased intracranial pressure as evaluated by clinical means.

Subjects with cardiac pacemakers.

Intake or neuroleptics.

Subjects with blindness secondary to degenerative CNS diseases.

Contacts and Locations

Locations

	Site	City	State	Country	Postal Code
1	National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)	Bethesda	Maryland	United States	20892

Sponsors and Collaborators

• National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

Investigators

None specified.

Study Documents (Full-Text)

None provided.

More Information

Publications

• Cohen LG, Bandinelli S, Findley TW, Hallett M. Motor reorganization after upper limb amputation in man. A study with focal magnetic stimulation. Brain. 1991 Feb;114 ( Pt 1B):615-27.
• Fuhr P, Cohen LG, Dang N, Findley TW, Haghighi S, Oro J, Hallett M. Physiological analysis of motor reorganization following lower limb amputation. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1992 Feb;85(1):53-60.
• Kew JJ, Ridding MC, Rothwell JC, Passingham RE, Leigh PN, Sooriakumaran S, Frackowiak RS, Brooks DJ. Reorganization of cortical blood flow and transcranial magnetic stimulation maps in human subjects after upper limb amputation. J Neurophysiol. 1994 Nov;72(5):2517-24.

• ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00001926
• Other Study ID Numbers: 990031; 99-N-0031
• First Posted: Nov 4, 1999
• Last Update Posted: Mar 4, 2008
• Last Verified: Nov 1, 2003

• Keywords provided by , ,: Plasticity; Magnetic Stimulation; PET; Blind; Braille; Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
• Additional relevant MeSH terms: Blindness

Study Results

No Results Posted as of Mar 4, 2008