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- a sort of “rewiring”
process that can occur in children because they are still developing, children
can keep full visual perception—the ability to process and understand visual
information—after brain surgery for severe epilepsy.
If you or someone you know would
like to know more about visual perception problems in children or children’s
eye health & vision problems please be sure to schedule an eye exam at The
Eye Care & Surgery Center at 908-789-8999, visit The Eye Care
& Surgery Center,
or facebook.com/eyecareandsurgerycenter
to schedule an appointment.
The Eye Care & Surgery Center is an affiliate of Prism Vision
Group and is located at 592
Springfield Avenue, Westfield, New Jersey 07090, 10 Mountain Boulevard, Warren,
New Jersey 07059 and 517 Route One South, Suite 1100, Iselin, New Jersey 08830, and is conveniently located for patients from throughout
central and northern New Jersey.
