The loss or absence of vision is probably one of the most incapacitating events that can befall a human being. The importance of vision for humans is also reflected in brain anatomy as approximately one third of the human brain is devoted to vision. It is therefore unsurprising that throughout history many attempts have been undertaken to develop devices aiming at substituting for a missing visual capacity. In this review, we present two concepts that have been prevalent over the last two decades. The first concept is sensory substitution, which refers to the use of another sensory modality to perform a task that is normally primarily sub-served by the lost sense. The second concept is cross-modal plasticity, which occurs when loss of input in one sensory modality leads to reorganization in brain representation of other sensory modalities. Both phenomena are training-dependent. We also briefly describe the history of blindness from ancient times to modernity, and then proceed to address the means that have been used to help blind individuals, with an emphasis on modern technologies, invasive (various type of surgical implants) and non-invasive devices. With the advent of brain imaging, it has become possible to peer into the neural substrates of sensory substitution and highlight the magnitude of the plastic processes that lead to a rewired brain. Finally, we will address the important question of the value and practicality of the available technologies and future directions.

Blind individuals often report difficulties to navigate and to detect objects placed outside their peri-personal space. Although classical sensory substitution devices could be helpful in this respect, these devices often give a complex signal which requires intensive training to analyze. New devices that provide a less complex output signal are therefore needed. Here, we evaluate a smartphone-based sensory substitution device that offers navigation guidance based on strictly spatial cues in the form of horizontally spatialized sounds. The system uses multiple sensors to either detect obstacles at a distance directly in front of the user or to create a 3D map of the environment (detection and avoidance mode, respectively), and informs the user with auditory feedback. We tested 12 early blind, 11 late blind and 24 blindfolded-sighted participants for their ability to detect obstacles and to navigate in an obstacle course. The three groups did not differ in the number of objects detected and avoided. However, early blind and late blind participants were faster than their sighted counterparts to navigate through the obstacle course. These results are consistent with previous research on sensory substitution showing that vision can be replaced by other senses to improve performance in a wide variety of tasks in blind individuals. This study offers new evidence that sensory substitution devices based on horizontally spatialized sounds can be used as a navigation tool with a minimal amount of training.

Vision loss has dramatic repercussions on the quality of life of affected people, particularly with respect to their orientation and mobility. Many devices are available to help blind people to navigate in their environment. The EyeCane is a recently developed electronic travel aid (ETA) that is inexpensive and easy to use, allowing for the detection of obstacles lying ahead within a 2 m range. The goal of this study was to investigate the potential of the EyeCane as a primary aid for spatial navigation. Three groups of participants were recruited: early blind, late blind, and sighted. They were first trained with the EyeCane and then tested in a life-size obstacle course with four obstacles types: cube, door, post, and step. Subjects were requested to cross the corridor while detecting, identifying, and avoiding the obstacles. Each participant had to perform 12 runs with 12 different obstacles configurations. All participants were able to learn quickly to use the EyeCane and successfully complete all trials. Amongst the various obstacles, the step appeared to prove the hardest to detect and resulted in more collisions. Although the EyeCane was effective for detecting obstacles lying ahead, its downward sensor did not reliably detect those on the ground, rendering downward obstacles more hazardous for navigation.

The Open-Science fabrication laboratory movement is an ongoing student initiative at the School of Optometry of the University of Montreal. The pilot project, the OptoFAB, is a collaborative space specially dedicated to producing low-cost material for research purposes based on the Open-Science and Maker movements. It aims to:1.Promote Open-Science and the fast dissemination and replication of research.2.Provide accessible training for students in a multitude of disciplines (i.e., 3D printing, 3D modeling, coding, robotics).3.Encourage interdisciplinary collaborations between the different programs (e.g., research, clinical, engineering).Our laboratory model will benefit laboratories and provide students with more opportunities during and beyond their (under)graduate studies. As students are the next generation of researchers, the Open-Science fabrication laboratory aims to give them more resources to develop multi-faceted skills, improve their self-efficacy and help them build their research careers. This paper describes our model and how we aim to measure our impact ongoingly and to improve the tools and services we put at students’ disposition. We hope that, through this paper, other universities might join the movement and replicate our model within their research programs.

Resting state networks (RSN), which show the connectivity in the brain in the absence of any stimuli, are increasingly important to assess brain function. Here, we investigate the changes in RSN as well as the hemodynamic changes during acute, global hypoxia. Mice were imaged at different levels of oxygen (21, 12, 10 and 8%) over the course of 10 weeks, with hypoxia and normoxia acquisitions interspersed. Simultaneous GCaMP and intrinsic optical imaging allowed tracking of both neuronal and hemodynamic changes. During hypoxic conditions, we found a global increase of both HbO and HbR in the brain. The saturation levels of blood dropped after the onset of hypoxia, but surprisingly climbed back to levels similar to baseline within the 10-min hypoxia period. Neuronal activity also showed a peak at the onset of hypoxia, but dropped back to baseline as well. Despite regaining baseline sO2 levels, changes in neuronal RSN were observed. In particular, the connectivity as measured with GCaMP between anterior and posterior parts of the brain decreased. In contrast, when looking at these same connections with HbO measurements, an increase in connectivity in anterior–posterior brain areas was observed suggesting a potential neurovascular decoupling.