FIGURE 5.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging response to visual stimulation. The visual stimulation tasks were presented either to the left or right eye of (A) normal-sighted controls, (B) RPE65 patients before GT, and (C) RPE65 patients 3 years after GT. All task-based cortical activations were processed using FX analyses at FDR corrected p < 0.007 (q < 0.05), with an extent threshold of >100 mm² and RFX analyses at an uncorrected p < 0.007 with an extent threshold > 100 mm². Sighted controls showed significant bilateral cortical activations in the visual cortex. At baseline, RPE65 patients expressed asymmetric and attenuated hemispheric activations in the left eye because the left eye was untreated in seven of eight patients. However, visual stimulation of the right eye in RPE65 patients displayed nearly symmetrical bilateral activation of the visual cortex. Three years post–FO clinical trial when RPE65 patients’ contralateral eye was treated, symmetrical bilateral visual cortex activations were observed for both left and right eyes.