# Reorganization of visual function in patients with posterior cortical research: Selectivity and plasticity

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2022 · $292,672

## Abstract

Summary
Lobectomy (resection of a portion of a cortex) or hemispherectomy (removal of a hemisphere) is an
increasingly common treatment for seizure management in individuals with pharmaco-resistant epilepsy.
Despite the removal of a considerable amount of visual cortex, these patients typically exhibit a remarkable
degree of recovery of visuo-cognitive function, particularly if the resection is performed in early childhood.
This restitution of function is all the more surprising given the distinct patterns of lateralization of the two
cerebral hemispheres in the normal brain. The proposed research undertakes a systematic examination of
the extent and nature of the recovery of visual abilities following cortical resection in children. Comparisons
to matched typical controls and to children with non-visual cortex resection are made both at the group-
level and for each individual, an important focus given the heterogeneity of this rare population. Cutting-
edge psychophysical and neuroimaging procedures, and novel analytic approaches, elucidate the nature and
changes in the cortical visual system pre- and post-surgery, and longitudinally thereafter, as well as the
mechanisms that give rise to recovery, potential modulatory effects of brain regions outside the visual system,
and possible biographical factors predicting recovery (e.g., age, side and size of resection).
 A first aim is to characterize the time-course of recovery in patients longitudinally and in detail, by
collecting neural and behavioral data pre-surgery and 6, 12, and 18 months post-surgery, characterizing the
changes in cortical selectivity, spatial topography, morphometric structure and behavioral competence in
the patients. A second aim examines with precision the integrity of the brain and behavior, assessing fine-
grained neural representations and a set of well-established computational properties exhibited by the normal
visual system. A final aim involves acquiring whole brain data driven in response to a naturalistic movie
viewing paradigm, to evaluate changes outside of the visual system that might influence and interact with the
observed recovery at the group and individual levels. Alternative theoretical accounts for recovery of function
are evaluated throughout.
 Little systematic research has targeted the patterns of visual deficits and their recovery following
surgical resection in children, and even less attention has been devoted to determining the underlying factors
that support (or potentially enhance) this plasticity. The study of an under-explored pediatric patient population,
and the use of detailed behavioral and neuroimaging data acquisition, breaks new ground in both the basic and
translational science of the visual system. Tracking these changes longitudinally with fine-grained methods
provides unprecedented insights into the nature of plasticity in the visual system, and may, ultimately, inform
the design of clinical interventions that facilitate functional...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10685070
- **Project number:** 7R01EY027018-06
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** Marlene Behrmann
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $292,672
- **Award type:** 7
- **Project period:** 2017-05-01 → 2026-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10685070

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10685070, Reorganization of visual function in patients with posterior cortical research: Selectivity and plasticity (7R01EY027018-06). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10685070. Licensed CC0.

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