Electrical receptive fields and cortical activation spread in response to electrical retina stimulation [Elektronische Ressource] : assessment of spatio-temporal resolution for a retina implant / by Marcus Wilms

Electrical Receptive Fields and CorticalActivation Spread in Response to ElectricalRetina Stimulation. Assessment of Spatio–Temporal Resolution for a Retina Implant.Dissertationin partial fulfillment of therequirements for the degree ofDoctor in Natural SciencebyMarcus WilmsDepartment of Applied Physics / NeurophysicsPhilipps-University MarburgDecember, 2001Elektrische rezeptive Felder und kortikaleAktivit¨atsverteilung nach elektrischer Reizungder Retina. Bestimmung der raum–zeitlichenAufl¨osung fur¨ ein Retina Implantat.Dissertationzur Erlangung desDoktorgradesder Naturwissenschaften(Dr. rer. nat.)demFachbereich Physikder Philipps–Universit¨at Marburgvorgelegt vonMarcus Wilmsaus ViersenMarburg/Lahn im Dezember 2001iAbstractGoal. Macula degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa are the most frequentlydiagnosed ailments in blind people. The former is the leading cause of blind-ness in the western world. To restore some vision to blind patients suffer-ing from these conditions, several research groups jointly aim at developing amicro-electronicprosthesis. Thegoalistoelectricallystimulateneuronsintheretina, evoking activity in corresponding cortical neurons and hence pseudo-visual sensations in blind patients. This concept is based on the finding thatpatterns of simple visual sensations can be elicited in response to epi-retinalpattern electrical stimulation (Humayun et al., 1999).