Proceedings: Debilitating Eye Diseases

Caras, Ingrid W.; Littman, Neil; Abo, Arie

doi:10.5966/sctm.2014-0221

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…He reported his five-year history of increasing frequency of visual hallucinations and was able to give a detailed and coherent description of his hallucinatory experiences. The patient suffered from retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease causing severe vision impairment due to progressive degeneration of the rod photoreceptors in the retina [11]. At the age of 3 years, he began experiencing progressive and gradual loss of vision.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resting-state functional connectivity and cortical thickness characterization of a patient with Charles Bonnet syndrome

et al. 2019

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Charles Bonnet syndrome (CBS) is a rare condition characterized by visual impairment associated with complex visual hallucinations in elderly people. Although studies suggested that visual hallucinations may be caused by brain damage in the visual system in CBS patients, alterations in specific brain regions in the occipital cortex have not been studied. Functional connectivity during resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI; without hallucinations) in CBS patients, has never been explored. We aimed to investigate brain structural and functional changes in a patient with CBS, as compared with late blind (LB) and normally sighted subjects. We employed voxel-based morphometry and cortical thickness analyses to investigate alterations in grey matter characteristics, and rs-fMRI to study changes in functional brain connectivity. Decreased grey matter volume was observed in the middle occipital gyrus and in the cuneus in the CBS patient, and in the middle occipital gyrus and in the lingual gyrus within LB subjects, compared to their respective control groups. Reductions in cortical thickness in associative and multimodal cortices were observed in the CBS patient when comparing with LB subjects. The precuneus exhibited increased functional connectivity with the secondary visual cortex in the CBS patient compared to the controls. In contrast, LB patients showed decreased functional connectivity compared to sighted controls between the DMN and the temporo-occipital fusiform gyrus, a region known to support hallucinations. Our findings suggest a reorganization of the functional connectivity between regions involved in self-awareness and in visual and salience processing in CBS that may contribute to the appearance of visual hallucinations.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resting-state functional connectivity and cortical thickness characterization of a patient with Charles Bonnet syndrome

et al. 2019

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“…Novel approaches may be of special importance for retinal degenerations, such as retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degenerations (Caras et al, 2014;Zarbin, 2016), which represent a significant cause of blindness and presently lack proven effective therapeutic options (Zarbin et al, 2014).…”

Section: D-tissue Generation In Microgravity: Impact On Outer Space mentioning

confidence: 99%

Microgravity, Stem Cells, and Embryonic Development: Challenges and Opportunities for 3D Tissue Generation

Andreazzoli

Angeloni

Broccoli

et al. 2017

Front. Astron. Space Sci.

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Space is a challenging environment for the human body, due to the combined effects of reduced gravity (microgravity) and cosmic radiation. Known effects of microgravity range from the blood redistribution that affects the cardiovascular system and the eye to muscle wasting, bone loss, anemia, and immune depression. About cosmic radiation, the shielding provided by the spaceship hull is far less efficient than that afforded at ground level by the combined effects of the Earth atmosphere and magnetic field. The eye and its nervous layer (the retina) are affected by both microgravity and heavy ions exposure. Considering the importance of sight for long-term manned flights, visual research aimed at devising measures to protect the eye from environmental conditions of the outer space represents a special challenge to meet. In this review we focus on the impact of microgravity on embryonic development, discussing the roles of mechanical forces in the context of the neutral buoyancy the embryo experiences in the womb. At variance with its adverse effects on the adult human body, simulated microgravity may provide a unique tool for understanding the biomechanical events involved in the development and assembly in vitro of three-dimensional (3D) ocular tissues. Prospective benefits are the development of novel safety measures to protect the human eye from cosmic radiation in microgravity during long-term manned spaceflights in the outer space, as well as the generation of human 3D-retinas with its supporting structures to develop innovative and effective therapeutic options for degenerative eye diseases.

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“…A human phase I/II clinical trial will evaluate the safety and tolerability of this tissueengineering product (TEP) in patients with gyrate atrophy. 101,109 The proof of concept with this TEP has been reported in RCS rats and in Yucatan pigs. 101,110 As human iPSCs can be obtained directly from the patient, they have the advantage of being autologous and therefore less immunogenic than ESCs for future cell transplantation studies.…”

Section: Cell Transplantation Using Human Pscsmentioning

confidence: 84%