NBC Philadelphia Reports on Recent fMRI Study That Shows Increased Brain Activity after NovaVision VRT

There is promising news for people who've lost some of their eyesight because of a stroke or brain injury. There's cutting-edge therapy that can help restore vision without the use of drugs or surgery.

 

A new study released Tuesday showed that it really works. It's called "vision restoration therapy" or VRT. It's based on visual stimulation of the border zone between the seeing and non-seeing fields. MRIs from patients left partially blind showed enhanced activity one month after starting treatment. Brain scans also showed that new areas of the brain light up after treatment.

 

Patients perform the therapy daily at home in front of a computer. "You have to click on the mouse every time you see a light. And if you hear a lot of beeping it means that you're missing it," Colleen Frattalone, a stroke survivor, said.

 

Scientists said the clicks stimulate the brain cells, which caused the vision loss.

 

Seventy percent of patients said it helped.