ABSTRACT
Cortical pathways for perception of sensory input are believed to be modulated by signals from other modalities. It is responsible for the fine tuning of the ability to perceive in the absence of a particular sense. In blind individuals associative visual areas of occipital cortex are polymodal in nature involved in processing of somatosensory and auditory signals in the absence of visual stimuli. Objectives – To study and compare the somatosensory evoked individuals in congenitally blind individuals. Materials & Methods – Ten Visually challenged females in the age group of 18-30 yrs were included in the study along with ten age & sex matched individuals. Somatosensory evoked potentials were recorded on Nicolet Viking select neurodiagnostic system version 10.0 using 3-channel with normal averaging technique. Conclusions – In congenitally blind individuals, the latency of N20 and P25 are shortened indicating faster conduction along the involved neural tracts & amplitude of N20 & P25 are increased which indicates greater somatosensory cortical activity.