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Brain Advance Access originally published online on May 25, 2009
Brain 2009 132(7):1898-1906; doi:10.1093/brain/awp119
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© 2009 The Author(s)
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Changes in cortical grey matter density associated with long-standing retinal visual field defects

Christine C. Boucard1,6, Aditya T. Hernowo1,2,6, R. Paul Maguire3,6, Nomdo M. Jansonius4, Jos B. T. M. Roerdink5,6, Johanna M. M. Hooymans4 and Frans W. Cornelissen1,6

1 Laboratory for Experimental Ophthalmology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands 2 Department of Ophthalmology, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia 3 Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands 4 Department of Ophthalmology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands 5 Institute for Mathematics and Computing Science, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands 6 School of Behavioral and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

Correspondence to: Frans W. Cornelissen, Laboratory for Experimental Ophthalmology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, PO Box 30001, 9700 RB Groningen, The Netherlands E-mail: f.w.cornelissen{at}rug.nl

Retinal lesions caused by eye diseases such as glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration can, over time, eliminate stimulation of parts of the visual cortex. This could lead to degeneration of inactive cortical neuronal tissue, but this has not been established in humans. Here, we used magnetic resonance imaging to assess the effects of prolonged sensory deprivation in human visual cortex. High-resolution anatomical magnetic resonance images were obtained in subjects with foveal (age-related macular degeneration) and peripheral (glaucoma) retinal lesions as well as age-matched controls. Comparison of grey matter between patient and control groups revealed density reductions in the approximate retinal lesion projection zones in visual cortex. This indicates that long-term cortical deprivation, due to retinal lesions acquired later in life, is associated with retinotopic-specific neuronal degeneration of visual cortex. Such degeneration could interfere with therapeutic strategies such as the future application of artificial retinal implants to overcome lesion-induced visual impairment.

Key Words: macular degeneration; glaucoma; visual field; visual cortex; voxel-based morphometry; grey matter density

Abbreviations: AMD, age-related macular degeneration; dB, decibel; POAG, primary open-angle glaucoma; SPM99, Statistical Parametric Mapping analysis program version of 1999; SPM5, Statistical Parametric Mapping analysis program version of 2005; VBM, voxel-based morphometry

Received September 22, 2008. Revised April 6, 2009. Accepted April 7, 2009.


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