Visual cortical prostheses (VCPs) may be useful for many individuals with acquired blindness. VCP stimulation of a point on the visual cortex elicits the perception of a flash of light, known as a phosphene; however, phosphenes resulting from concurrent stimulation of multiple points on the visual cortex do not combine into a coherent shape. Here, the authors used a dynamic pattern of stimulation known as current steering, whereby the sequential delivery of current via two electrodes in turn leads to the formation of a ‘virtual electrode’ between them — resulting in perception of a line. Such stimulation led to the perception of letters by sighted and blind participants.
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Beauchamp, M. S. et al. Dynamic stimulation of visual cortex produces form vision in sighted and blind humans. Cell 181, 774–783 (2020)
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Bray, N. Action pictures. Nat Rev Neurosci 21, 351 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-020-0320-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-020-0320-4