The Connection Between Areas in the Brain of Blind Patients

March 3, 2008 updated by: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

Connectivity of Occipital and Somatosensory Cortical Areas in Blind Subjects

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.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

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 Type

Observational

Enrollment

45

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Maryland
      • Bethesda, Maryland, United States, 20892
        • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

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.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

April 1, 1999

Study Completion

November 1, 2003

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 3, 1999

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 3, 1999

First Posted (Estimate)

November 4, 1999

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

March 4, 2008

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 3, 2008

Last Verified

November 1, 2003

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 990031
  • 99-N-0031

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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