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Brain structural changes in blindness: a systematic review and an anatomical likelihood estimation (ALE)
Samuel Paré1, Maxime Bleau1, Laurence Dricot2
1School of Optometry, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
|April 13, 2023
Summary
Blindness causes brain structure changes in the visual system for both early (EB) and late onset (LB) individuals. EB also shows alterations beyond the occipital lobe, highlighting diverse impacts of vision loss on brain morphology.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Neuroimaging
- Human Anatomy
Background:
- Numerous structural brain imaging studies have investigated morphometric changes in early blindness (EB) and late blindness (LB).
- Previous findings on brain alterations in blindness lack consistency regarding type and location.
- A comprehensive analysis is needed to clarify the effects of blindness on brain structure.
Approach:
- Conducted a systematic review and coordinate-based meta-analysis (ALE) of 65 studies.
- Included data from 890 individuals with EB, 466 with LB, and 1257 sighted controls.
- Analyzed structural brain imaging data to identify consistent morphometric changes.
Key Points:
- Both EB and LB exhibit atrophic changes within the retino-geniculo-striate visual pathway.
- Individuals with EB show additional structural alterations in brain regions outside the occipital lobe.
- Inconsistencies in prior research may stem from varying methodologies, onset, duration, and causes of blindness.
Conclusions:
- Blindness significantly impacts brain structure, particularly within the visual processing system.
- Early onset blindness is associated with broader structural brain changes compared to late onset blindness.
- Future research should prioritize larger sample sizes, multimodal imaging, and integrated functional-structural analyses for a deeper understanding of blindness-related brain modifications.
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