Researchers using functional magnetic resonance imaging of the brain found that visual areas of the cortex could adapt to altered input coming from an inflamed optic nerve.

Areas of the brain normally associated with more specialized higher visual processing reorganized themselves in response to the faulty visual information transmitted by the nerve. The techniques used in this study could also be applied to other conditions such as stroke in which adaptive cortical reorganization is strongly suspected.

“These and other studies employing modern imaging techniques are leading to an increase in our understanding of how the different parts of the brain adapt to injury to other parts of the central and peripheral nervous systems,” said Robert P. Lisak, MD, of Wayne State University and chair of the American Neurological Association’s public information committee.

American Neurological Association news release