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Saccone EJ, Tian M, Bedny M. Developing cortex is functionally pluripotent: Evidence from blindness. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2024; 66:101360. [PMID: 38394708 PMCID: PMC10899073 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2024.101360] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2023] [Revised: 01/25/2024] [Accepted: 02/19/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024] Open
Abstract
How rigidly does innate architecture constrain function of developing cortex? What is the contribution of early experience? We review insights into these questions from visual cortex function in people born blind. In blindness, occipital cortices are active during auditory and tactile tasks. What 'cross-modal' plasticity tells us about cortical flexibility is debated. On the one hand, visual networks of blind people respond to higher cognitive information, such as sentence grammar, suggesting drastic repurposing. On the other, in line with 'metamodal' accounts, sighted and blind populations show shared domain preferences in ventral occipito-temporal cortex (vOTC), suggesting visual areas switch input modality but perform the same or similar perceptual functions (e.g., face recognition) in blindness. Here we bring these disparate literatures together, reviewing and synthesizing evidence that speaks to whether visual cortices have similar or different functions in blind and sighted people. Together, the evidence suggests that in blindness, visual cortices are incorporated into higher-cognitive (e.g., fronto-parietal) networks, which are a major source long-range input to the visual system. We propose the connectivity-constrained experience-dependent account. Functional development is constrained by innate anatomical connectivity, experience and behavioral needs. Infant cortex is pluripotent, the same anatomical constraints develop into different functional outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth J Saccone
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
| | - Mengyu Tian
- Center for Educational Science and Technology, Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai, China
| | - Marina Bedny
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
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Tian M, Xiao X, Hu H, Cusack R, Bedny M. Visual experience shapes functional connectivity between occipital and non-visual networks. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.02.21.528939. [PMID: 36865300 PMCID: PMC9980152 DOI: 10.1101/2023.02.21.528939] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/23/2023]
Abstract
Comparisons across adults with different sensory histories (blind vs. sighted) have uncovered effects of experience on human brain function. In people born blind visual cortices are responsive to non-visual tasks and show altered functional connectivity at rest. Since almost all research has been done with adults, little is known about the developmental origins of this plasticity. Are infant visual cortices initially functionally like those of sighted adults and blindness causes reorganization? Alternatively, do infants start like blind adults, with vision required to set up the sighted pattern? To distinguish between these possibilities, we compare resting state functional connectivity across blind (n = 30) and blindfolded sighted (n = 50) adults to a large cohort of sighted infants (Developing Human Connectome Project, n = 475). Remarkably, we find that infant secondary visual cortices functionally resemble those of blind more than sighted adults, consistent with the idea that visual experience is required to set up long-range functional connectivity. Primary visual cortices show a mixture of instructive effects of vision and reorganizing effects of blindness. Specifically, in sighted adults, visual cortices show stronger functional coupling with nonvisual sensory-motor networks (i.e., auditory, somatosensory/motor) than with higher-cognitive prefrontal cortices (PFC). In blind adults, visual cortices show stronger coupling with PFC. In infants, connectivity of secondary visual cortices is stronger with PFC, while V1 shows equal sensory-motor/PFC connectivity. In contrast, lateralization of occipital-to-frontal connectivity resembles the sighted adults at birth and is reorganized by blindness, possibly due to recruitment of occipital networks for lateralized cognitive functions, such as language.
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Dȩbska A, Wójcik M, Chyl K, Dziȩgiel-Fivet G, Jednoróg K. Beyond the Visual Word Form Area - a cognitive characterization of the left ventral occipitotemporal cortex. Front Hum Neurosci 2023; 17:1199366. [PMID: 37576470 PMCID: PMC10416454 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2023.1199366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2023] [Accepted: 07/10/2023] [Indexed: 08/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The left ventral occipitotemporal cortex has been traditionally viewed as a pathway for visual object recognition including written letters and words. Its crucial role in reading was strengthened by the studies on the functionally localized "Visual Word Form Area" responsible for processing word-like information. However, in the past 20 years, empirical studies have challenged the assumptions of this brain region as processing exclusively visual or even orthographic stimuli. In this review, we aimed to present the development of understanding of the left ventral occipitotemporal cortex from the visually based letter area to the modality-independent symbolic language related region. We discuss theoretical and empirical research that includes orthographic, phonological, and semantic properties of language. Existing results showed that involvement of the left ventral occipitotemporal cortex is not limited to unimodal activity but also includes multimodal processes. The idea of the integrative nature of this region is supported by the broad functional and structural connectivity with language-related and attentional brain networks. We conclude that although the function of the area is not yet fully understood in human cognition, its role goes beyond visual word form processing. The left ventral occipitotemporal cortex seems to be crucial for combining higher-level language information with abstract forms that convey meaning independently of modality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agnieszka Dȩbska
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Marta Wójcik
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Katarzyna Chyl
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
- The Educational Research Institute, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Gabriela Dziȩgiel-Fivet
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Katarzyna Jednoróg
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
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Cardin V, Kremneva E, Komarova A, Vinogradova V, Davidenko T, Zmeykina E, Kopnin PN, Iriskhanova K, Woll B. Resting-state functional connectivity in deaf and hearing individuals and its link to executive processing. Neuropsychologia 2023; 185:108583. [PMID: 37142052 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108583] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2022] [Revised: 04/23/2023] [Accepted: 04/27/2023] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Sensory experience shapes brain structure and function, and it is likely to influence the organisation of functional networks of the brain, including those involved in cognitive processing. Here we investigated the influence of early deafness on the organisation of resting-state networks of the brain and its relation to executive processing. We compared resting-state connectivity between deaf and hearing individuals across 18 functional networks and 400 ROIs. Our results showed significant group differences in connectivity between seeds of the auditory network and most large-scale networks of the brain, in particular the somatomotor and salience/ventral attention networks. When we investigated group differences in resting-state fMRI and their link to behavioural performance in executive function tasks (working memory, inhibition and switching), differences between groups were found in the connectivity of association networks of the brain, such as the salience/ventral attention and default-mode networks. These findings indicate that sensory experience influences not only the organisation of sensory networks, but that it also has a measurable impact on the organisation of association networks supporting cognitive processing. Overall, our findings suggest that different developmental pathways and functional organisation can support executive processing in the adult brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Velia Cardin
- Deafness, Cognition and Language Research Centre, UCL, London, UK.
| | - Elena Kremneva
- Department of Radiology, Research Center of Neurology, Moscow, Russia
| | - Anna Komarova
- Galina Zaitseva Centre for Deaf Studies and Sign Language, Moscow, Russia; Language Department, Moscow State Linguistics University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Valeria Vinogradova
- Deafness, Cognition and Language Research Centre, UCL, London, UK; Galina Zaitseva Centre for Deaf Studies and Sign Language, Moscow, Russia; School of Psychology, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
| | - Tatiana Davidenko
- Galina Zaitseva Centre for Deaf Studies and Sign Language, Moscow, Russia
| | - Elina Zmeykina
- Department of Radiology, Research Center of Neurology, Moscow, Russia; Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Germany
| | - Petr N Kopnin
- Department of Neurorehabilitation and Physiotherapy, Research Center of Neurology, Moscow, Russia
| | - Kira Iriskhanova
- Language Department, Moscow State Linguistics University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Bencie Woll
- Deafness, Cognition and Language Research Centre, UCL, London, UK
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Tian M, Saccone EJ, Kim JS, Kanjlia S, Bedny M. Sensory modality and spoken language shape reading network in blind readers of Braille. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:2426-2440. [PMID: 35671478 PMCID: PMC10016046 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac216] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2021] [Revised: 05/06/2022] [Accepted: 05/07/2022] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
The neural basis of reading is highly consistent across many languages and scripts. Are there alternative neural routes to reading? How does the sensory modality of symbols (tactile vs. visual) influence their neural representations? We examined these questions by comparing reading of visual print (sighted group, n = 19) and tactile Braille (congenitally blind group, n = 19). Blind and sighted readers were presented with written (words, consonant strings, non-letter shapes) and spoken stimuli (words, backward speech) that varied in word-likeness. Consistent with prior work, the ventral occipitotemporal cortex (vOTC) was active during Braille and visual reading. A posterior/anterior vOTC word-form gradient was observed only in sighted readers with more anterior regions preferring larger orthographic units (words). No such gradient was observed in blind readers. Consistent with connectivity predictions, in blind compared to sighted readers, posterior parietal cortices were recruited to a greater degree and contained word-preferring patches. Lateralization of Braille in blind readers was predicted by laterality of spoken language and reading hand. The effect of spoken language increased along a cortical hierarchy, whereas effect of reading hand waned. These results suggested that the neural basis of reading is influenced by symbol modality and spoken language and support connectivity-based views of cortical function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengyu Tian
- Corresponding author: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N Charles St, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States.
| | - Elizabeth J Saccone
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University , 3400 N Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States
| | - Judy S Kim
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University , 3400 N Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, 2 Hillhouse Ave., New Haven, CT 06511, United States
| | - Shipra Kanjlia
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University , 3400 N Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States
- Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15213, United States
| | - Marina Bedny
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University , 3400 N Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States
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Li J, Gu L, Hong S, Chen Y, Luo Q, Wu Y, Yang J, Xiong J, Lv H, Jiang J. Greater functional connectivity between the ventral frontal cortex and occipital cortex in herpes zoster patients than post-herpetic neuralgia patients. Br J Radiol 2023; 96:20220762. [PMID: 36341689 PMCID: PMC10997015 DOI: 10.1259/bjr.20220762] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2022] [Revised: 09/24/2022] [Accepted: 10/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE This study aimed to compare whole brain network between herpes zoster (HZ) patients and post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN) patients, as well as to investigate the associations between whole brain network changes and pain intensity and the accuracy of classifying between different types of pain. METHODS PHN patients (n = 50) and HZ patients (n = 50) and healthy controls (HCs) (n = 50) underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). Functional connectivity and global and local graph theory metrics were calculated by using Dosenbach-160 atlas. The relationship between neuroimaging indicators and clinical scales was evaluated using correlation analysis, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves evaluated the feasibility of classifying PHN and HZ patients using specific neuroimaging indicators. RESULTS (1) 10 greater average connectivities were found in HZ group among the default mode, frontoparietal, cingulo-opercular, sensorimotor, occipital networks (ONs), and cerebellum (p < 0.001). (2) HZ patients exhibited higher global efficiency than those in the PHN and HCs (t = 2.178, p = 0.038). (3) Multiple linear regression analyses indicated that functional connectivity between the ventral frontal cortex in the cingulo-opercular network and the occipital gyrus in the ON influenced the visual analog score pain scores (β = 4.273; p = 0.004). CONCLUSION The variation of functional connectivity between ventral frontal cortex in the cingulo-opercular network and occipital gyrus in the ON may be a robust neuroimaging marker of the transition from HZ to PHN patients. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE Whole-brain network analysis may be effective in distinguishing HZ and PHN patients and predicting pain intensity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiahao Li
- Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital,
Nanchang University, Nanchang, China
| | - Lili Gu
- Department of Pain, the First Affiliated Hospital, Nanchang
University, Nanchang, China
| | - Shunda Hong
- Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital,
Nanchang University, Nanchang, China
| | - Yeyuan Chen
- Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital,
Nanchang University, Nanchang, China
| | - Qing Luo
- Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital,
Nanchang University, Nanchang, China
| | - Ying Wu
- Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital,
Nanchang University, Nanchang, China
| | - Jiaojiao Yang
- Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital,
Nanchang University, Nanchang, China
| | - Jiaxin Xiong
- Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital,
Nanchang University, Nanchang, China
| | - Huiting Lv
- Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital,
Nanchang University, Nanchang, China
| | - Jian Jiang
- Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital,
Nanchang University, Nanchang, China
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Sabourin CJ, Merrikhi Y, Lomber SG. Do blind people hear better? Trends Cogn Sci 2022; 26:999-1012. [PMID: 36207258 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2022.08.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2022] [Revised: 08/22/2022] [Accepted: 08/25/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
For centuries, anecdotal evidence such as the perfect pitch of the blind piano tuner or blind musician has supported the notion that individuals who have lost their sight early in life have superior hearing abilities compared with sighted people. Recently, auditory psychophysical and functional imaging studies have identified that specific auditory enhancements in the early blind can be linked to activation in extrastriate visual cortex, suggesting crossmodal plasticity. Furthermore, the nature of the sensory reorganization in occipital cortex supports the concept of a task-based functional cartography for the cerebral cortex rather than a sensory-based organization. In total, studies of early-blind individuals provide valuable insights into mechanisms of cortical plasticity and principles of cerebral organization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carina J Sabourin
- Department of Physiology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3G 1Y6, Canada; Biological and Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3G 1Y6, Canada
| | - Yaser Merrikhi
- Department of Physiology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3G 1Y6, Canada
| | - Stephen G Lomber
- Department of Physiology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3G 1Y6, Canada; Biological and Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3G 1Y6, Canada; Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3G 1Y6, Canada; Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3G 1Y6, Canada.
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Guerreiro MJS, Kekunnaya R, Röder B. Top-down modulation of visual cortical processing after transient congenital blindness. Neuropsychologia 2022; 174:108338. [PMID: 35931134 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108338] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2022] [Revised: 07/18/2022] [Accepted: 07/19/2022] [Indexed: 10/16/2022]
Abstract
Early visual experience has been shown to be critical for the development of visual and multisensory functions; however, its impact on functional brain organization remains largely unexplored. Here, we therefore investigated the effect of early visual deprivation on top-down attentional modulation of visual cortical processing within the occipito-temporal cortex. Furthermore, we explored whether early visual deprivation may affect the extent to which typically visual, motion-selective area hMT responds to moving visual stimuli. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we compared cortical responses in area hMT and in the fusiform face area (FFA) to moving face stimuli - which were either task relevant or task irrelevant - relative to stationary face stimuli between cataract-reversal participants and normally sighted controls. Although both groups exhibited significantly stronger visual cortical responses in area hMT to moving stimuli than during the stationary baseline, the magnitude of this effect was significantly lower in the cataract-reversal group. In contrast, both groups exhibited significantly enhanced visual cortical responses in area hMT and in the FFA when moving face stimuli were task relevant compared to when they were task irrelevant, with no significant differences between groups in the magnitude of these effects. These results indicate that top-down attentional modulation of visual cortical processing in area hMT and FFA does not depend on early visual experience. Furthermore, the present results suggest that the functional specialization of area hMT for visual motion processing may be partially disrupted by early visual deprivation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria J S Guerreiro
- Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, Institute for Psychology, University of Hamburg, Von-Melle-Park 11, D-20146, Hamburg, Germany; Biological Psychology, Department of Psychology, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Ammerländer Heerstr. 114-118, 26111, Oldenburg, Germany.
| | - Ramesh Kekunnaya
- Child Sight Institute, Jasti V. Ramanamma Children's Eye Care Center, Department of Pediatric Ophthalmology, Strabismus and Neuro-Ophthalmology, L. V. Prasad Eye Institute, Kallam Anji Reddy Campus, Hyderabad, 500034, Telengana, India
| | - Brigitte Röder
- Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, Institute for Psychology, University of Hamburg, Von-Melle-Park 11, D-20146, Hamburg, Germany
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