Table 1.

Details of subjects (acuity is reported for the better eye; NLP – no light perception; LP – light perception; low LP implies no color, motion, or form perception; ROP – retinopathy of prematurity). EB – Early blind, SC – Sighted control._All individuals were free of co-morbid neurological and psychiatric concerns, heavy alcohol use and prescription/non-prescription drug use (self-report).

Subject	Gender	Age	Handedness	Age of Onset	Cause of Blindness	Prematurity	Visual acuity (best eye)	Braille wpm	Braille reading hand
EB01	F	56	L	1.5	Virus damaged optic nerve in both eyes	At term	Low LP	>300	Reads L
SC01	F	53	L
EB02	M	40	R	0	Congenital cataracts	At term	NLP	120–150	Reads L guides R
SC02	M	44	L
EB03	M	56	L	0	ROP	2 mo.	NLP	400–500	Reads L
SC03	M	55	L
EB04	M	57	R	0	ROP	2 mo.	Low LP	150	Reads L index
SC04	M	58	R
EB05	M	44	R	MinimalLP until 6–7	Congenital glaucoma	At term	Low LP	137	Reads R index
SC05	M	47	R
EB06	F	49	R	MinimalLP until 25–30 when retina detached	ROP	< 1 mo.	NLP	110	Reads R index, guides L index
SC06	F	51	R
EB07	M	56	R	0	ROP	2 mo.	NLP	225	Reads L & R
SC07	M	48	R
EB08	M	57	R	MrnimalLP, gradually deteriorated, NLP @ 25–30	ROP/congenital glaucoma	2 mo.	NLP	120	Reads R index
SC08	M	61	L
EB09	F	60	Amb	MinimalLP in left eye only until 5	Ruptured RE, detached retina @ 5 mo. Glaucoma secondary to surgery	At term	NLP	>300	Reads L & R
SC09	F	54	R