A team of researchers in Australia have discovered a new pathway for vision, which may hopefully help treat blindness.
Researchers from Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute of Monash University have identified a new pathway toward the brain, challenging the belief that there's only one route for visual information toward the brain.
It has been a long-standing idea in the health care community that once the route is damaged, the person develops blindness, and there's no more cure to it. With this discovery, however, the correct treatment becomes possible.
In a press release, the team led by James Bourne, an associate professor of the university, mentioned the brain is actually capable of remapping itself so signals don't have to pass through the injured site.
The new pathway, pulvinar, belongs to thalamus, which is responsible for sorting the different types of information the brain receives from the senses, including the ears and the eyes.
It's been assumed for many years that this part of the brain is already complete by the time of birth and that all sensory perceptions now go through the brain's cortex, which currently processes most of the information.
However, the researchers learned through a variety of techniques including using MRI scanning for mapping and studying the flow of information in the cellular level that the brain is capable of rewiring the pathway of information especially if the injury occurs during the first year of the person's life.
This seems to be consistent with previous studies that suggest children who have their eyes injured while they were still young can still retain normal vision while adults could not even if the injured site for both is the same.
With this discovery, the researchers believe that they or somebody else may be able to uncover new sensory pathways.
Aside from helping the blind, this study and its future progress is also helpful for people who have sensitivity to light such as chronic migraine sufferers.
The study is now available in Current Biology journal.
