Unlocking the brain's plasticity: Anatomical changes after sight restoration

Children's brains can be extremely adaptive, a new study claims.

When once blind kids become sighted after surgeries, their brains change as well.

Let's find out more.

Brains are amazing

Children's brain change after they can see - and they change a lot.

Recent research led by MIT Professor Pawan Sinha challenges the notion of a fixed "critical period" for visual learning in the brain. 

The study focuses on children in India who underwent cataract surgery after the age of 7, showing that older children can still learn visual tasks and experience anatomical changes in the brain after sight restoration. 

The findings suggest that the window of brain plasticity for certain visual tasks may extend beyond early childhood. 

It can help lots of children

This highlights the importance of providing treatment to all children, irrespective of age, to promote better visual outcomes and improve understanding of brain plasticity. 

The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, demonstrates the remarkable ability of the brain to adapt and reconfigure itself.
 

• Related news:
• brain
• research
• children
• adaptation
• 13 July 2023

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