# Visual Form Perception Produced by Electrically Stimulating Human Visual Cortex

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2021 · $393,557

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Blindness disables millions of people across the world. In most cases, incurable
blindness is caused by damage or dysfunction of the eye, retina, or optic nerve,
but the visual cortex is undamaged and potentially functional. Electrical
stimulation of visual cortex, even in blind patients, produces a percept of a
distinct spots of light known as phosphenes. There has long been interest in
developing a prosthetic device that employs direct activation of the intact visual
cortex to restore vision to the blind. It has been speculated that phosphenes
could serve as the building blocks for visual restoration in the blind; but unlike
pixels in a video display, multiple phosphenes are not readily combined into a
percept of a coherent form. We propose a novel stimulation paradigm, termed
"dynamic current steering," that can dramatically enhance the ability of visual
cortical prosthetics (VCPs) to produce useful percepts of visual forms. Because
there are imminent plans for clinical trials of several VCPs within the next few
years, now is a currently particularly important time to develop improved methods
for stimulation of visual cortex. To assess and refine dynamic current steering as
a methodology for a VCP, we will measure percepts produced with this novel
paradigm in pre-clinical testing in human epilepsy patients with implanted
intracranial electrodes. In Aim 1, we will test dynamic current steering as a novel
method for producing percepts of visual forms. In Aim 2, we will optimize the
components of dynamic current steering to promote perception of coherent forms.
Together, these aims will result in a novel paradigm for producing useful percepts
of coherent visual forms by stimulation visual cortex that will be immediately
translatable in forthcoming clinical trials of the next generation of VCPs.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10336833
- **Project number:** 7R01EY023336-07
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** DANIEL YOSHOR
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $393,557
- **Award type:** 7
- **Project period:** 2021-02-01 → 2024-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10336833

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10336833, Visual Form Perception Produced by Electrically Stimulating Human Visual Cortex (7R01EY023336-07). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10336833. Licensed CC0.

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