After-effects of Retinal Electrical Stimulation on Brain Responses

Abstract

Many people around the world are suffering from vision disability, which could be due to damage in the retina, optic nerve, visual cortex, etc. Nonetheless, recent research achievements have made vision restoration possible while electrical stimulation therapy (EST) is one of the suggested methods. It employs stimuli with low current to activate damaged nerves, which the electrical stimulation can be achieved by both direct current (DC) and alternating current (AC). However, the consequences of long-term electrical stimulation from these devices or therapies have not been fully understood yet. In this project, the effects on the brain responses after prolong-electrical stimulation to the retina of the tested mice were investigated. Experiments are done on two different types of mice, which are C57 as the control group, and RD10 as the experimental group which carry genes for retinal degeneration. Recordings of Electroencephalogram (EEG), Electrically Evoked Potentials (EEP) and Visual Evoked Potentials (VEP) response from the tested mice before and after the long-term electrical stimulation triggered on their retina were analyzed. Finally, some after-effects are identified and suggestions for future research are discussed.