Manisha Bhattacharya1, Shilpi Modi1, Namita Singh Saini1, Rajendra Prasad Tripathi1, Subash Khushu1
1NMR Research Centre, Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences, Delhi, India
Visual experience during the early stages of life effects the development of neural circuits in the visual cortex. In order to find the extent of structural reorganization with the extent of sightedness, voxel based morphometry was carried out in totally blind subjects, partially blind subjects and controls. Our study revealed gray-white matter volume loss in the parieto-occipital cortex, limbic lobe and the neo-cerebellum in total blinds as compared to controls. Morphological changes were less pronounced in the occipital lobe of partial blinds as compared to total blinds. Moreover, no changes were found in their cerebellum and the parietal cortex.