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Wang R, Gong J, Zhao C, Xu Y, Hong B. Distinct neural pathway and its information flow for blind individual's Braille reading. Neuroimage 2024; 300:120852. [PMID: 39265958 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120852] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2024] [Revised: 08/22/2024] [Accepted: 09/10/2024] [Indexed: 09/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Natural Braille reading presents significant challenges to the brain networks of late blind individuals, yet its underlying neural mechanisms remain largely unexplored. Using natural Braille texts in behavioral assessments and functional MRI, we sought to pinpoint the neural pathway and information flow crucial for Braille reading performance in late blind individuals. In the resting state, we discovered a unique neural connection between the higher-order 'visual' cortex, the lateral occipital cortex (LOC), and the inferior frontal cortex (IFC) in late blind individuals, but not in sighted controls. The left-lateralized LOC-IFC connectivity was correlated with individual Braille reading proficiency. Prolonged Braille reading practice led to increased strength of this connectivity. During a natural Braille reading task, bidirectional information flow between the LOC and the IFC was positively modulated, with a predominantly stronger top-down modulation from the IFC to the LOC. This stronger top-down modulation contributed to higher Braille reading proficiency. We thus proposed a two-predictor multiple regression model to predict individual Braille reading proficiency, incorporating both static connectivity and dynamic top-down communication between the LOC-IFC link. This work highlights the dual contributions of the occipito-frontal neural pathway and top-down cognitive strategy to superior natural Braille reading performance, offering guidance for training late blind individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruxue Wang
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Tsinghua Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China
| | - Jiangtao Gong
- The Future Laboratory, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China; Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China
| | - Chenying Zhao
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Tsinghua Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China
| | - Yingqing Xu
- The Future Laboratory, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China; Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China.
| | - Bo Hong
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Tsinghua Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China; IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China.
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Arcaro M, Livingstone M. A Whole-Brain Topographic Ontology. Annu Rev Neurosci 2024; 47:21-40. [PMID: 38360565 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-neuro-082823-073701] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/17/2024]
Abstract
It is a common view that the intricate array of specialized domains in the ventral visual pathway is innately prespecified. What this review postulates is that it is not. We explore the origins of domain specificity, hypothesizing that the adult brain emerges from an interplay between a domain-general map-based architecture, shaped by intrinsic mechanisms, and experience. We argue that the most fundamental innate organization of cortex in general, and not just the visual pathway, is a map-based topography that governs how the environment maps onto the brain, how brain areas interconnect, and ultimately, how the brain processes information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Arcaro
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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Wang YM, Zhang YY, Wang Y, Cao Q, Zhang M. Task-related brain activation associated with violence in patients with schizophrenia: A meta-analysis. Asian J Psychiatr 2024; 97:104080. [PMID: 38788320 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajp.2024.104080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2024] [Revised: 04/20/2024] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 05/26/2024]
Abstract
This study investigates specific changes in brain function during cognitive and emotional tasks in patients with schizophrenia and a history of violence (VSCZ) compared with non-violent patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. A comprehensive literature search was conducted at the Web of Science, Medline, and PubMed. Ten studies met the inclusion criteria. In which, eight studies compared brain activation between patients with VSCZ and non-violent patients with schizophrenia, and the former exhibited increased activation at the middle occipital gyrus and rectus compared with the latter. Seven studies compared brain activation between patients with VSCZ and controls, and the former exhibited increased activation at the anterior cingulate cortex, cerebellum VI region, lingual gyrus and fusiform. Subgroup analysis in five studies performing emotional tasks revealed that patients with VSCZ showed increased activation at the middle occipital gyrus compared with non-violent patients with schizophrenia. Our findings suggest that abnormal emotion perception and regulation significantly contribute to the increased risk of violence in patients with schizophrenia. Notably, the middle occipital gyrus and rectus emerge as key neurophysiological correlates associated with this phenomenon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yong-Ming Wang
- School of Biology & Basic Medical Sciences, Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China
| | - Yi-Yang Zhang
- The Second Clinical Medical School, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xianyang 712046, China
| | - Ying Wang
- School of Biology & Basic Medical Sciences, Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China
| | - Qun Cao
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Meng Zhang
- Beijing HuiLongGuan Hospital, Peking University HuiLongGuan Clinical Medical School, Beijing 100096, China.
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Pardhan S, Raman R, Moore BCJ, Cirstea S, Velu S, Kolarik AJ. Effect of early versus late onset of partial visual loss on judgments of auditory distance. Optom Vis Sci 2024; 101:393-398. [PMID: 38990237 DOI: 10.1097/opx.0000000000002125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/12/2024] Open
Abstract
SIGNIFICANCE It is important to know whether early-onset vision loss and late-onset vision loss are associated with differences in the estimation of distances of sound sources within the environment. People with vision loss rely heavily on auditory cues for path planning, safe navigation, avoiding collisions, and activities of daily living. PURPOSE Loss of vision can lead to substantial changes in auditory abilities. It is unclear whether differences in sound distance estimation exist in people with early-onset partial vision loss, late-onset partial vision loss, and normal vision. We investigated distance estimates for a range of sound sources and auditory environments in groups of participants with early- or late-onset partial visual loss and sighted controls. METHODS Fifty-two participants heard static sounds with virtual distances ranging from 1.2 to 13.8 m within a simulated room. The room simulated either anechoic (no echoes) or reverberant environments. Stimuli were speech, music, or noise. Single sounds were presented, and participants reported the estimated distance of the sound source. Each participant took part in 480 trials. RESULTS Analysis of variance showed significant main effects of visual status (p<0.05) environment (reverberant vs. anechoic, p<0.05) and also of the stimulus (p<0.05). Significant differences (p<0.05) were shown in the estimation of distances of sound sources between early-onset visually impaired participants and sighted controls for closer distances for all conditions except the anechoic speech condition and at middle distances for all conditions except the reverberant speech and music conditions. Late-onset visually impaired participants and sighted controls showed similar performance (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS The findings suggest that early-onset partial vision loss results in significant changes in judged auditory distance in different environments, especially for close and middle distances. Late-onset partial visual loss has less of an impact on the ability to estimate the distance of sound sources. The findings are consistent with a theoretical framework, the perceptual restructuring hypothesis, which was recently proposed to account for the effects of vision loss on audition.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Saranya Velu
- Shri Bhagwan Mahavir Vitreoretinal Services, Sankara Nethralaya Eye Hospital, Chennai, India
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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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Makarov I, Unnthorsson R, Kristjánsson Á, Thornton IM. The effects of visual and auditory synchrony on human foraging. Atten Percept Psychophys 2024; 86:909-930. [PMID: 38253985 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-023-02840-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/21/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2024]
Abstract
Can synchrony in stimulation guide attention and aid perceptual performance? Here, in a series of three experiments, we tested the influence of visual and auditory synchrony on attentional selection during a novel human foraging task. Human foraging tasks are a recent extension of the classic visual search paradigm in which multiple targets must be located on a given trial, making it possible to capture a wide range of performance metrics. Experiment 1 was performed online, where the task was to forage for 10 (out of 20) vertical lines among 60 randomly oriented distractor lines that changed color between yellow and blue at random intervals. The targets either changed colors in visual synchrony or not. In another condition, a non-spatial sound additionally occurred synchronously with the color change of the targets. Experiment 2 was run in the laboratory (within-subjects) with the same design. When the targets changed color in visual synchrony, foraging times were significantly shorter than when they randomly changed colors, but there was no additional benefit for the sound synchrony, in contrast to predictions from the so-called "pip-and-pop" effect (Van der Burg et al., Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1053-1065, 2008). In Experiment 3, task difficulty was increased as participants foraged for as many 45° rotated lines as possible among lines of different orientations within 10 s, with the same synchrony conditions as in Experiments 1 and 2. Again, there was a large benefit of visual synchrony but no additional benefit for sound synchronization. Our results provide strong evidence that visual synchronization can guide attention during multiple target foraging. This likely reflects the local grouping of the synchronized targets. Importantly, there was no additional benefit for sound synchrony, even when the foraging task was quite difficult (Experiment 3).
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivan Makarov
- Faculty of Psychology, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland.
- Faculty of Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland.
| | - Runar Unnthorsson
- Faculty of Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Árni Kristjánsson
- Faculty of Psychology, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Ian M Thornton
- Department of Cognitive Science Faculty of Media & Knowledge Science, University of Malta, Msida, Malta
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Wang F, Zhou T, Wang P, Zhang Y, Jiang J. Study of vision-related resting-state activity in suprasellar tumor patients with postoperative visual damage. Brain Behav 2024; 14:e3462. [PMID: 38468484 PMCID: PMC10928331 DOI: 10.1002/brb3.3462] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2023] [Revised: 02/08/2024] [Accepted: 02/14/2024] [Indexed: 03/13/2024] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION The objective of this study was to investigate changes in vision-related resting-state activity in patients with suprasellar tumors (ST) who experienced vision deterioration after surgery. METHODS Twelve patients with ST and vision deterioration after surgery were included in the study. Resting-state functional connectivity (FC) was compared before and after surgery using a seed-based analysis with a priori specified regions of interest (ROIs) within the visual areas. The differences between the two groups were identified using a paired t-test. RESULTS The data showed a decrease in FC within and between the dorsal and ventral pathways, as well as in the third pathway in ST patients. The middle temporal visual cortex (MT+) showed a decreased FC with more regions than other visual ROIs. The data also revealed an increase in FC between the visual ROIs and higher-order cortex. The superior frontal gyrus/BA8 showed an increased FC with more ROIs than other high-order regions, and the hOC4d was involved in an increased FC with more high-order regions than other ROIs. CONCLUSIONS The study results indicate significant neural reorganization in the vision-related cortex of ST patients with postoperative vision damage. Most subareas within the visual cortex showed remarkable neural dysfunction, and some highe-order cortex may be primarily involved in top-down control of the subareas within the visual cortex. The hot zones may arise in the processing of "top-down" influence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fuyu Wang
- Department of NeurosurgeryThe First Medical Center, Chinese PLA General HospitalBeijingChina
| | - Tao Zhou
- Department of NeurosurgeryThe First Medical Center, Chinese PLA General HospitalBeijingChina
| | - Peng Wang
- Department of NeurosurgeryThe First Medical Center, Chinese PLA General HospitalBeijingChina
| | - Yanyang Zhang
- Department of NeurosurgeryThe First Medical Center, Chinese PLA General HospitalBeijingChina
| | - Jinli Jiang
- Department of NeurosurgeryHainan Hospital of Chinese PLA General HospitalSanyaChina
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Sarzedas J, Lima CF, Roberto MS, Scott SK, Pinheiro AP, Conde T. Blindness influences emotional authenticity perception in voices: Behavioral and ERP evidence. Cortex 2024; 172:254-270. [PMID: 38123404 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2023] [Revised: 10/31/2023] [Accepted: 11/10/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023]
Abstract
The ability to distinguish spontaneous from volitional emotional expressions is an important social skill. How do blind individuals perceive emotional authenticity? Unlike sighted individuals, they cannot rely on facial and body language cues, relying instead on vocal cues alone. Here, we combined behavioral and ERP measures to investigate authenticity perception in laughter and crying in individuals with early- or late-blindness onset. Early-blind, late-blind, and sighted control participants (n = 17 per group, N = 51) completed authenticity and emotion discrimination tasks while EEG data were recorded. The stimuli consisted of laughs and cries that were either spontaneous or volitional. The ERP analysis focused on the N1, P2, and late positive potential (LPP). Behaviorally, early-blind participants showed intact authenticity perception, but late-blind participants performed worse than controls. There were no group differences in the emotion discrimination task. In brain responses, all groups were sensitive to laughter authenticity at the P2 stage, and to crying authenticity at the early LPP stage. Nevertheless, only early-blind participants were sensitive to crying authenticity at the N1 and middle LPP stages, and to laughter authenticity at the early LPP stage. Furthermore, early-blind and sighted participants were more sensitive than late-blind ones to crying authenticity at the P2 and late LPP stages. Altogether, these findings suggest that early blindness relates to facilitated brain processing of authenticity in voices, both at early sensory and late cognitive-evaluative stages. Late-onset blindness, in contrast, relates to decreased sensitivity to authenticity at behavioral and brain levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- João Sarzedas
- CICPSI, Faculdade de Psicologia, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
| | - César F Lima
- Centro de Investigação e Intervenção Social (CIS-IUL), Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Lisboa, Portugal; Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
| | - Magda S Roberto
- CICPSI, Faculdade de Psicologia, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Sophie K Scott
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
| | - Ana P Pinheiro
- CICPSI, Faculdade de Psicologia, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.
| | - Tatiana Conde
- CICPSI, Faculdade de Psicologia, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.
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Hauptman M, Elli G, Pant R, Bedny M. Neural specialization for 'visual' concepts emerges in the absence of vision. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2023.08.23.552701. [PMID: 37662234 PMCID: PMC10473738 DOI: 10.1101/2023.08.23.552701] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/05/2023]
Abstract
Vision provides a key source of information about many concepts, including 'living things' (e.g., tiger) and visual events (e.g., sparkle). According to a prominent theoretical framework, neural specialization for different conceptual categories is shaped by sensory features, e.g., living things are neurally dissociable from navigable places because living things concepts depend more on visual features. We tested this framework by comparing the neural basis of 'visual' concepts across sighted (n=22) and congenitally blind (n=21) adults. Participants judged the similarity of words varying in their reliance on vision while undergoing fMRI. We compared neural responses to living things nouns (birds, mammals) and place nouns (natural, manmade). In addition, we compared visual event verbs (e.g., 'sparkle') to non-visual events (sound emission, hand motion, mouth motion). People born blind exhibited distinctive univariate and multivariate responses to living things in a temporo-parietal semantic network activated by nouns, including the precuneus (PC). To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration that neural selectivity for living things does not require vision. We additionally observed preserved neural signatures of 'visual' light events in the left middle temporal gyrus (LMTG+). Across a wide range of semantic types, neural representations of sensory concepts develop independent of sensory experience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miriam Hauptman
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Giulia Elli
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Rashi Pant
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Biological Psychology & Neuropsychology, Universität Hamburg, Germany
| | - Marina Bedny
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
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Sourav S, Kekunnaya R, Bottari D, Shareef I, Pitchaimuthu K, Röder B. Sound suppresses earliest visual cortical processing after sight recovery in congenitally blind humans. Commun Biol 2024; 7:118. [PMID: 38253781 PMCID: PMC10803735 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-05749-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2023] [Accepted: 12/28/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Neuroscientific research has consistently shown more extensive non-visual activity in the visual cortex of congenitally blind humans compared to sighted controls; a phenomenon known as crossmodal plasticity. Whether or not crossmodal activation of the visual cortex retracts if sight can be restored is still unknown. The present study, involving a rare group of sight-recovery individuals who were born pattern vision blind, employed visual event-related potentials to investigate persisting crossmodal modulation of the initial visual cortical processing stages. Here we report that the earliest, stimulus-driven retinotopic visual cortical activity (<100 ms) was suppressed in a spatially specific manner in sight-recovery individuals when concomitant sounds accompanied visual stimulation. In contrast, sounds did not modulate the earliest visual cortical response in two groups of typically sighted controls, nor in a third control group of sight-recovery individuals who had suffered a transient phase of later (rather than congenital) visual impairment. These results provide strong evidence for persisting crossmodal activity in the visual cortex after sight recovery following a period of congenital visual deprivation. Based on the time course of this modulation, we speculate on a role of exuberant crossmodal thalamic input which may arise during a sensitive phase of brain development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suddha Sourav
- Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
| | - Ramesh Kekunnaya
- Jasti V Ramanamma Children's Eye Care Center, Child Sight Institute, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, India
| | - Davide Bottari
- Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
- IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, Lucca, Italy
| | - Idris Shareef
- Jasti V Ramanamma Children's Eye Care Center, Child Sight Institute, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, India
| | - Kabilan Pitchaimuthu
- Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
- Jasti V Ramanamma Children's Eye Care Center, Child Sight Institute, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, India
- Department of Medicine and Optometry, Linnaeus University, Kalmar, Sweden
| | - Brigitte Röder
- Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
- Jasti V Ramanamma Children's Eye Care Center, Child Sight Institute, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, India
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Wang L, Ji Y, Ding H, Tian Q, Fan K, Shi D, Yu C, Qin W. Abnormal cerebral blood flow in patients with Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy. Brain Imaging Behav 2023; 17:471-480. [PMID: 37368154 DOI: 10.1007/s11682-023-00775-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/04/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE The study aimed to unravel abnormal cerebral blood flow (CBF) in patients with Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) using arterial spin labeling (ASL) and to investigate the associations among disrupted CBF, disease duration, and neuro-ophthalmological impairment. METHODS ASL perfusion imaging data was collected from 20 patients with acute LHON, 29 patients with chronic LHON, and 37 healthy controls. We used a one-way analysis of covariance to test the intergroup differences in CBF. Linear and nonlinear curve fit models were applied to explore the associations among CBF, disease duration, and neuro-ophthalmological metrics. RESULTS Brain regions differed in LHON patients, including the left sensorimotor and bilateral visual areas (p < 0.05, cluster-wise family-wise error correction). Acute and chronic LHON patients demonstrated lower CBF in bilateral calcarine than the healthy controls. Chronic LHON had lower CBF in the left middle frontal gyrus and sensorimotor cortex, and temporal-partial junction than the healthy controls and acute LHON. A significant logarithmic negative correlation was shown between CBF of left middle frontal gyrus and disease duration. A significant linear positive correlation was found between retinal nerve fiber layer thickness and CBF in left middle frontal gyrus, and negative correlations between loss of variance and CBF in left middle frontal gyrus and sensorimotor cortex (p < 0.05, Bonferroni correction). CONCLUSION LHON patients exhibited reduced CBF in the visual pathway, sensorimotor and higher-tier cognitive areas. Disease duration and neuro-ophthalmological impairments can influence the metabolism of non-visual areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ling Wang
- Department of Medical Imaging, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, Zhengzhou, 450003, China
| | - Yi Ji
- Department of Radiology & Tianjin Key Lab of Functional Imaging, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, 300052, China
| | - Hao Ding
- Department of Radiology & Tianjin Key Lab of Functional Imaging, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, 300052, China
- School of Medical Imaging, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, 300070, China
| | - Qin Tian
- Department of Medical Imaging, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, Zhengzhou, 450003, China
| | - Ke Fan
- Henan Eye Institute, Henan Eye Hospital, Zhengzhou University People's Hospital, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, Zhengzhou, 450003, China
| | - Dapeng Shi
- Department of Medical Imaging, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, Zhengzhou, 450003, China.
- Department of Medical Imaging, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, Sanquan College of Xinxiang Medical University, Weiwu Road No. 7, Jinshui District, ZhengZhou, Henan Province, China.
| | - Chunshui Yu
- Department of Radiology & Tianjin Key Lab of Functional Imaging, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, 300052, China.
- Department of Radiology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Anshan Road No. 154, Heping District, Tianjin, 300052, China.
| | - Wen Qin
- Department of Radiology & Tianjin Key Lab of Functional Imaging, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, 300052, China.
- Department of Radiology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Anshan Road No. 154, Heping District, Tianjin, 300052, China.
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Beck J, Dzięgiel-Fivet G, Jednoróg K. Similarities and differences in the neural correlates of letter and speech sound integration in blind and sighted readers. Neuroimage 2023; 278:120296. [PMID: 37495199 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120296] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2023] [Revised: 07/18/2023] [Accepted: 07/23/2023] [Indexed: 07/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Learning letter and speech sound (LS) associations is a major step in reading acquisition common for all alphabetic scripts, including Braille used by blind readers. The left superior temporal cortex (STC) plays an important role in audiovisual LS integration in sighted people, but it is still unknown what neural mechanisms are responsible for audiotactile LS integration in blind individuals. Here, we investigated the similarities and differences between LS integration in blind Braille (N = 42, age range: 9-60 y.o.) and sighted print (N = 47, age range: 9-60 y.o.) readers who acquired reading using different sensory modalities. In both groups, the STC responded to both isolated letters and isolated speech sounds, showed enhanced activation when they were presented together, and distinguished between congruent and incongruent letter and speech sound pairs. However, the direction of the congruency effect was different between the groups. Sighted subjects showed higher activity for incongruent LS pairs in the bilateral STC, similarly to previously studied typical readers of transparent orthographies. In the blind, congruent pairs resulted in an increased response in the right STC. These differences may be related to more sequential processing of Braille as compared to print reading. At the same time, behavioral efficiency in LS discrimination decisions and the congruency effect were found to be related to age and reading skill only in sighted participants, suggesting potential differences in the developmental trajectories of LS integration between blind and sighted readers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joanna Beck
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Pasteur 3, Warsaw 02-093, Poland.
| | - Gabriela Dzięgiel-Fivet
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Pasteur 3, Warsaw 02-093, Poland
| | - Katarzyna Jednoróg
- Laboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Pasteur 3, Warsaw 02-093, Poland.
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Morelli F, Schiatti L, Cappagli G, Martolini C, Gori M, Signorini S. Clinical assessment of the TechArm system on visually impaired and blind children during uni- and multi-sensory perception tasks. Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1158438. [PMID: 37332868 PMCID: PMC10272406 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1158438] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2023] [Accepted: 04/12/2023] [Indexed: 06/20/2023] Open
Abstract
We developed the TechArm system as a novel technological tool intended for visual rehabilitation settings. The system is designed to provide a quantitative assessment of the stage of development of perceptual and functional skills that are normally vision-dependent, and to be integrated in customized training protocols. Indeed, the system can provide uni- and multisensory stimulation, allowing visually impaired people to train their capability of correctly interpreting non-visual cues from the environment. Importantly, the TechArm is suitable to be used by very young children, when the rehabilitative potential is maximal. In the present work, we validated the TechArm system on a pediatric population of low-vision, blind, and sighted children. In particular, four TechArm units were used to deliver uni- (audio or tactile) or multi-sensory stimulation (audio-tactile) on the participant's arm, and subject was asked to evaluate the number of active units. Results showed no significant difference among groups (normal or impaired vision). Overall, we observed the best performance in tactile condition, while auditory accuracy was around chance level. Also, we found that the audio-tactile condition is better than the audio condition alone, suggesting that multisensory stimulation is beneficial when perceptual accuracy and precision are low. Interestingly, we observed that for low-vision children the accuracy in audio condition improved proportionally to the severity of the visual impairment. Our findings confirmed the TechArm system's effectiveness in assessing perceptual competencies in sighted and visually impaired children, and its potential to be used to develop personalized rehabilitation programs for people with visual and sensory impairments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Federica Morelli
- Developmental Neuro-Ophthalmology Unit, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Lucia Schiatti
- Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab and Center for Brains, Minds and Machines, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, MA, United States
- Unit for Visually Impaired People, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy
| | - Giulia Cappagli
- Developmental Neuro-Ophthalmology Unit, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy
- Unit for Visually Impaired People, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy
| | - Chiara Martolini
- Developmental Neuro-Ophthalmology Unit, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy
| | - Monica Gori
- Unit for Visually Impaired People, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy
| | - Sabrina Signorini
- Developmental Neuro-Ophthalmology Unit, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy
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14
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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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15
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Bang JW, Chan RW, Parra C, Murphy MC, Schuman JS, Nau AC, Chan KC. Diverging patterns of plasticity in the nucleus basalis of Meynert in early- and late-onset blindness. Brain Commun 2023; 5:fcad119. [PMID: 37101831 PMCID: PMC10123399 DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcad119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2022] [Revised: 02/01/2023] [Accepted: 04/07/2023] [Indexed: 04/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Plasticity in the brain is impacted by an individual's age at the onset of the blindness. However, what drives the varying degrees of plasticity remains largely unclear. One possible explanation attributes the mechanisms for the differing levels of plasticity to the cholinergic signals originating in the nucleus basalis of Meynert. This explanation is based on the fact that the nucleus basalis of Meynert can modulate cortical processes such as plasticity and sensory encoding through its widespread cholinergic projections. Nevertheless, there is no direct evidence indicating that the nucleus basalis of Meynert undergoes plastic changes following blindness. Therefore, using multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging, we examined if the structural and functional properties of the nucleus basalis of Meynert differ between early blind, late blind and sighted individuals. We observed that early and late blind individuals had a preserved volumetric size and cerebrovascular reactivity in the nucleus basalis of Meynert. However, we observed a reduction in the directionality of water diffusion in both early and late blind individuals compared to sighted individuals. Notably, the nucleus basalis of Meynert presented diverging patterns of functional connectivity between early and late blind individuals. This functional connectivity was enhanced at both global and local (visual, language and default-mode networks) levels in the early blind individuals, but there were little-to-no changes in the late blind individuals when compared to sighted controls. Furthermore, the age at onset of blindness predicted both global and local functional connectivity. These results suggest that upon reduced directionality of water diffusion in the nucleus basalis of Meynert, cholinergic influence may be stronger for the early blind compared to the late blind individuals. Our findings are important to unravelling why early blind individuals present stronger and more widespread cross-modal plasticity compared to late blind individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ji Won Bang
- Correspondence may also be addressed to: Ji Won Bang, PhD.
| | - Russell W Chan
- Department of Ophthalmology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, NYU Langone Health, New York University, New York, NY 10017, USA
| | - Carlos Parra
- Department of Ophthalmology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, NYU Langone Health, New York University, New York, NY 10017, USA
| | - Matthew C Murphy
- Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA
- Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - Joel S Schuman
- Department of Ophthalmology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, NYU Langone Health, New York University, New York, NY 10017, USA
- Neuroscience Institute, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, NYU Langone Health, New York University, New York, NY 10016, USA
- Center for Neural Science, College of Arts and Science, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tandon School of Engineering, New York University, New York, NY 11201, USA
| | - Amy C Nau
- Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
- Korb and Associates, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Kevin C Chan
- Correspondence to: Kevin C. Chan, PhD, Departments of Ophthalmology and Radiology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, NYU Langone Health, New York University. 222 E 41st Street, Room 362, New York, NY 10017, USA.
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16
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Martolini C, Amadeo MB, Campus C, Cappagli G, Gori M. Effects of audio-motor training on spatial representations in long-term late blindness. Neuropsychologia 2022; 176:108391. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108391] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2021] [Revised: 08/16/2022] [Accepted: 10/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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17
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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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18
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Bleau M, Paré S, Chebat DR, Kupers R, Nemargut JP, Ptito M. Neural substrates of spatial processing and navigation in blindness: An activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:1010354. [PMID: 36340755 PMCID: PMC9630591 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.1010354] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2022] [Accepted: 09/30/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Even though vision is considered the best suited sensory modality to acquire spatial information, blind individuals can form spatial representations to navigate and orient themselves efficiently in space. Consequently, many studies support the amodality hypothesis of spatial representations since sensory modalities other than vision contribute to the formation of spatial representations, independently of visual experience and imagery. However, given the high variability in abilities and deficits observed in blind populations, a clear consensus about the neural representations of space has yet to be established. To this end, we performed a meta-analysis of the literature on the neural correlates of spatial processing and navigation via sensory modalities other than vision, like touch and audition, in individuals with early and late onset blindness. An activation likelihood estimation (ALE) analysis of the neuroimaging literature revealed that early blind individuals and sighted controls activate the same neural networks in the processing of non-visual spatial information and navigation, including the posterior parietal cortex, frontal eye fields, insula, and the hippocampal complex. Furthermore, blind individuals also recruit primary and associative occipital areas involved in visuo-spatial processing via cross-modal plasticity mechanisms. The scarcity of studies involving late blind individuals did not allow us to establish a clear consensus about the neural substrates of spatial representations in this specific population. In conclusion, the results of our analysis on neuroimaging studies involving early blind individuals support the amodality hypothesis of spatial representations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maxime Bleau
- École d’Optométrie, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Samuel Paré
- École d’Optométrie, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Daniel-Robert Chebat
- Visual and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory (VCN Lab), Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel
- Navigation and Accessibility Research Center of Ariel University (NARCA), Ariel University, Ariel, Israel
| | - Ron Kupers
- École d’Optométrie, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Institute of Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | | | - Maurice Ptito
- École d’Optométrie, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
- *Correspondence: Maurice Ptito,
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19
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Senna I, Piller S, Gori M, Ernst M. The power of vision: calibration of auditory space after sight restoration from congenital cataracts. Proc Biol Sci 2022; 289:20220768. [PMID: 36196538 PMCID: PMC9532985 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.0768] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2022] [Accepted: 09/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Early visual deprivation typically results in spatial impairments in other sensory modalities. It has been suggested that, since vision provides the most accurate spatial information, it is used for calibrating space in the other senses. Here we investigated whether sight restoration after prolonged early onset visual impairment can lead to the development of more accurate auditory space perception. We tested participants who were surgically treated for congenital dense bilateral cataracts several years after birth. In Experiment 1 we assessed participants' ability to understand spatial relationships among sounds, by asking them to spatially bisect three consecutive, laterally separated sounds. Participants performed better after surgery than participants tested before. However, they still performed worse than sighted controls. In Experiment 2, we demonstrated that single sound localization in the two-dimensional frontal plane improves quickly after surgery, approaching performance levels of sighted controls. Such recovery seems to be mediated by visual acuity, as participants gaining higher post-surgical visual acuity performed better in both experiments. These findings provide strong support for the hypothesis that vision calibrates auditory space perception. Importantly, this also demonstrates that this process can occur even when vision is restored after years of visual deprivation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irene Senna
- Applied Cognitive Psychology, Faculty for Computer Science, Engineering, and Psychology, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | - Sophia Piller
- Applied Cognitive Psychology, Faculty for Computer Science, Engineering, and Psychology, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | - Monica Gori
- Unit for Visually Impaired People (U-VIP), Center for Human Technologies, Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genoa, Italy
| | - Marc Ernst
- Applied Cognitive Psychology, Faculty for Computer Science, Engineering, and Psychology, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
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20
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Arbel R, Heimler B, Amedi A. Face shape processing via visual-to-auditory sensory substitution activates regions within the face processing networks in the absence of visual experience. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:921321. [PMID: 36263367 PMCID: PMC9576157 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.921321] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2022] [Accepted: 09/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous evidence suggests that visual experience is crucial for the emergence and tuning of the typical neural system for face recognition. To challenge this conclusion, we trained congenitally blind adults to recognize faces via visual-to-auditory sensory-substitution (SDD). Our results showed a preference for trained faces over other SSD-conveyed visual categories in the fusiform gyrus and in other known face-responsive-regions of the deprived ventral visual stream. We also observed a parametric modulation in the same cortical regions, for face orientation (upright vs. inverted) and face novelty (trained vs. untrained). Our results strengthen the conclusion that there is a predisposition for sensory-independent and computation-specific processing in specific cortical regions that can be retained in life-long sensory deprivation, independently of previous perceptual experience. They also highlight that if the right training is provided, such cortical preference maintains its tuning to what were considered visual-specific face features.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roni Arbel
- Department of Medical Neurobiology, Hadassah Ein-Kerem, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
- Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
- Department of Pediatrics, Hadassah University Hospital-Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, Israel
- *Correspondence: Roni Arbel,
| | - Benedetta Heimler
- Department of Medical Neurobiology, Hadassah Ein-Kerem, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
- Ivcher School of Psychology, The Institute for Brain, Mind, and Technology, Reichman University, Herzeliya, Israel
- Center of Advanced Technologies in Rehabilitation, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Amir Amedi
- Department of Medical Neurobiology, Hadassah Ein-Kerem, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
- Ivcher School of Psychology, The Institute for Brain, Mind, and Technology, Reichman University, Herzeliya, Israel
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21
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Ahulló-Fuster MA, Ortiz T, Varela-Donoso E, Nacher J, Sánchez-Sánchez ML. The Parietal Lobe in Alzheimer’s Disease and Blindness. J Alzheimers Dis 2022; 89:1193-1202. [DOI: 10.3233/jad-220498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
The progressive aging of the population will notably increase the burden of those diseases which leads to a disabling situation, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and ophthalmological diseases that cause a visual impairment (VI). Eye diseases that cause a VI raise neuroplastic processes in the parietal lobe. Meanwhile, the aforementioned lobe suffers a severe decline throughout AD. From this perspective, diving deeper into the particularities of the parietal lobe is of paramount importance. In this article, we discuss the functions of the parietal lobe, review the parietal anatomical and pathophysiological peculiarities in AD, and also describe some of the changes in the parietal region that occur after VI. Although the alterations in the hippocampus and the temporal lobe have been well documented in AD, the alterations of the parietal lobe have been less thoroughly explored. Recent neuroimaging studies have revealed that some metabolic and perfusion impairments along with a reduction of the white and grey matter could take place in the parietal lobe during AD. Conversely, it has been speculated that blinding ocular diseases induce a remodeling of the parietal region which is observable through the improvement of the integration of multimodal stimuli and in the increase of the volume of this cortical region. Based on current findings concerning the parietal lobe in both pathologies, we hypothesize that the increased activity of the parietal lobe in people with VI may diminish the neurodegeneration of this brain region in those who are visually impaired by oculardiseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mónica Alba Ahulló-Fuster
- Department of Radiology, Rehabilitation and Physiotherapy, Faculty of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Podiatry, University Complutense of Madrid, Spain
| | - Tomás Ortiz
- Department of Legal Medicine, Psychiatry and Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University Complutense of Madrid, Spain
| | - Enrique Varela-Donoso
- Department of Radiology, Rehabilitation and Physiotherapy, Faculty of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Podiatry, University Complutense of Madrid, Spain
| | - Juan Nacher
- Neurobiology Unit, Institute for Biotechnology and Biomedicine (BIOTECMED), University of Valencia, Spain
- CIBERSAM, Spanish National Network for Research in Mental Health, Spain
- Fundación Investigación Hospital Clínico de Valencia, INCLIVA, Valencia, Spain
| | - M. Luz Sánchez-Sánchez
- Physiotherapy in Motion, Multispeciality Research Group (PTinMOTION), Department of Physiotherapy, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
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22
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Mattioni S, Rezk M, Battal C, Vadlamudi J, Collignon O. Impact of blindness onset on the representation of sound categories in occipital and temporal cortices. eLife 2022; 11:e79370. [PMID: 36070354 PMCID: PMC9451537 DOI: 10.7554/elife.79370] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2022] [Accepted: 08/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The ventral occipito-temporal cortex (VOTC) reliably encodes auditory categories in people born blind using a representational structure partially similar to the one found in vision (Mattioni et al.,2020). Here, using a combination of uni- and multivoxel analyses applied to fMRI data, we extend our previous findings, comprehensively investigating how early and late acquired blindness impact on the cortical regions coding for the deprived and the remaining senses. First, we show enhanced univariate response to sounds in part of the occipital cortex of both blind groups that is concomitant to reduced auditory responses in temporal regions. We then reveal that the representation of the sound categories in the occipital and temporal regions is more similar in blind subjects compared to sighted subjects. What could drive this enhanced similarity? The multivoxel encoding of the 'human voice' category that we observed in the temporal cortex of all sighted and blind groups is enhanced in occipital regions in blind groups , suggesting that the representation of vocal information is more similar between the occipital and temporal regions in blind compared to sighted individuals. We additionally show that blindness does not affect the encoding of the acoustic properties of our sounds (e.g. pitch, harmonicity) in occipital and in temporal regions but instead selectively alter the categorical coding of the voice category itself. These results suggest a functionally congruent interplay between the reorganization of occipital and temporal regions following visual deprivation, across the lifespan.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefania Mattioni
- Institute for research in Psychology (IPSY) & Neuroscience (IoNS), Louvain Bionics, Crossmodal Perception and Plasticity Laboratory - University of Louvain (UCLouvain)Louvain-la-NeuveBelgium
- Department of Brain and Cognition, KU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
| | - Mohamed Rezk
- Institute for research in Psychology (IPSY) & Neuroscience (IoNS), Louvain Bionics, Crossmodal Perception and Plasticity Laboratory - University of Louvain (UCLouvain)Louvain-la-NeuveBelgium
| | - Ceren Battal
- Institute for research in Psychology (IPSY) & Neuroscience (IoNS), Louvain Bionics, Crossmodal Perception and Plasticity Laboratory - University of Louvain (UCLouvain)Louvain-la-NeuveBelgium
| | - Jyothirmayi Vadlamudi
- Institute for research in Psychology (IPSY) & Neuroscience (IoNS), Louvain Bionics, Crossmodal Perception and Plasticity Laboratory - University of Louvain (UCLouvain)Louvain-la-NeuveBelgium
| | - Olivier Collignon
- Institute for research in Psychology (IPSY) & Neuroscience (IoNS), Louvain Bionics, Crossmodal Perception and Plasticity Laboratory - University of Louvain (UCLouvain)Louvain-la-NeuveBelgium
- Center for Mind/Brain Studies, University of TrentoTrentoItaly
- School of Health Sciences, HES-SO Valais-WallisSionSwitzerland
- The Sense Innovation and Research Center, Lausanne and SionSionSwitzerland
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23
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Zhou X, Feng M, Hu Y, Zhang C, Zhang Q, Luo X, Yuan W. The Effects of Cortical Reorganization and Applications of Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy in Deaf People and Cochlear Implant Users. Brain Sci 2022; 12:brainsci12091150. [PMID: 36138885 PMCID: PMC9496692 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12091150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2022] [Revised: 08/19/2022] [Accepted: 08/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
A cochlear implant (CI) is currently the only FDA-approved biomedical device that can restore hearing for the majority of patients with severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). While prelingually and postlingually deaf individuals benefit substantially from CI, the outcomes after implantation vary greatly. Numerous studies have attempted to study the variables that affect CI outcomes, including the personal characteristics of CI candidates, environmental variables, and device-related variables. Up to 80% of the results remained unexplainable because all these variables could only roughly predict auditory performance with a CI. Brain structure/function differences after hearing deprivation, that is, cortical reorganization, has gradually attracted the attention of neuroscientists. The cross-modal reorganization in the auditory cortex following deafness is thought to be a key factor in the success of CI. In recent years, the adaptive and maladaptive effects of this reorganization on CI rehabilitation have been argued because the neural mechanisms of how this reorganization impacts CI learning and rehabilitation have not been revealed. Due to the lack of brain processes describing how this plasticity affects CI learning and rehabilitation, the adaptive and deleterious consequences of this reorganization on CI outcomes have recently been the subject of debate. This review describes the evidence for different roles of cross-modal reorganization in CI performance and attempts to explore the possible reasons. Additionally, understanding the core influencing mechanism requires taking into account the cortical changes from deafness to hearing restoration. However, methodological issues have restricted longitudinal research on cortical function in CI. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) has been increasingly used for the study of brain function and language assessment in CI because of its unique advantages, which are considered to have great potential. Here, we review studies on auditory cortex reorganization in deaf patients and CI recipients, and then we try to illustrate the feasibility of fNIRS as a neuroimaging tool in predicting and assessing speech performance in CI recipients. Here, we review research on the cross-modal reorganization of the auditory cortex in deaf patients and CI recipients and seek to demonstrate the viability of using fNIRS as a neuroimaging technique to predict and evaluate speech function in CI recipients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoqing Zhou
- Department of Otolaryngolgy, Chongqing General Hospital, Chongqing 401147, China
- Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400042, China
- Chongqing School, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, China
- Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, China
| | - Menglong Feng
- Department of Otolaryngolgy, Chongqing General Hospital, Chongqing 401147, China
- Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400042, China
- Chongqing School, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, China
- Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, China
| | - Yaqin Hu
- Department of Otolaryngolgy, Chongqing General Hospital, Chongqing 401147, China
- Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400042, China
- Chongqing School, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, China
- Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, China
| | - Chanyuan Zhang
- Department of Otolaryngolgy, Chongqing General Hospital, Chongqing 401147, China
- Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400042, China
- Chongqing School, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, China
- Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, China
| | - Qingling Zhang
- Department of Otolaryngolgy, Chongqing General Hospital, Chongqing 401147, China
- Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400042, China
- Chongqing School, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, China
- Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, China
| | - Xiaoqin Luo
- Department of Otolaryngolgy, Chongqing General Hospital, Chongqing 401147, China
- Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400042, China
- Chongqing School, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, China
- Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, China
| | - Wei Yuan
- Department of Otolaryngolgy, Chongqing General Hospital, Chongqing 401147, China
- Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400042, China
- Chongqing School, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, China
- Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, China
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +86-23-63535180
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24
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Musz E, Loiotile R, Chen J, Cusack R, Bedny M. Naturalistic stimuli reveal a sensitive period in cross modal responses of visual cortex: Evidence from adult-onset blindness. Neuropsychologia 2022; 172:108277. [PMID: 35636634 PMCID: PMC9648859 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2021] [Revised: 04/28/2022] [Accepted: 05/25/2022] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
How do life experiences impact cortical function? In people who are born blind, the "visual" cortices are recruited during nonvisual tasks, such as Braille reading and sound localization. Do visual cortices have a latent capacity to respond to nonvisual information throughout the lifespan? Alternatively, is there a sensitive period of heightened plasticity that makes visual cortex repurposing especially possible during childhood? To gain insight into these questions, we leveraged meaningful naturalistic auditory stimuli to simultaneously engage a broad range of cognitive domains and quantify cross-modal responses across congenitally blind (n = 22), adult-onset blind (vision loss >18 years-of-age, n = 14) and sighted (n = 22) individuals. During fMRI scanning, participants listened to two types of meaningful naturalistic auditory stimuli: excerpts from movies and a spoken narrative. As controls, participants heard the same narrative with the sentences shuffled and the narrative played backwards (i.e., meaningless sounds). We correlated the voxel-wise timecourses of different participants within condition and group. For all groups, all stimulus conditions induced synchrony in auditory cortex while only the narrative stimuli synchronized responses in higher-cognitive fronto-parietal and temporal regions. As previously reported, inter-subject synchrony in visual cortices was higher in congenitally blind than sighted blindfolded participants and this between-group difference was particularly pronounced for meaningful stimuli (movies and narrative). Critically, visual cortex synchrony was no higher in adult-onset blind than sighted blindfolded participants and did not increase with blindness duration. Sensitive period plasticity enables cross-modal repurposing in visual cortices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth Musz
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
| | - Rita Loiotile
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Janice Chen
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Rhodri Cusack
- Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Marina Bedny
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
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25
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Chouinard‐Leclaire C, Manescu S, Collignon O, Lepore F, Frasnelli J. Altered morphological traits along central olfactory centers in congenitally blind subjects. Eur J Neurosci 2022; 56:4486-4500. [DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15758] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2022] [Revised: 06/28/2022] [Accepted: 06/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Simona Manescu
- Centre de Recherche en Neuropsychologie et Cognition (CERNEC) Université de Montréal Montréal Québec Canada
| | - Olivier Collignon
- Institutes for research in Psychology (IPSY) and Neurosciences (IoNS) University of Louvain Belgium
| | - Franco Lepore
- Centre de Recherche en Neuropsychologie et Cognition (CERNEC) Université de Montréal Montréal Québec Canada
| | - Johannes Frasnelli
- Centre de Recherche en Neuropsychologie et Cognition (CERNEC) Université de Montréal Montréal Québec Canada
- Department of Anatomy Université du Québec à Trois‐Rivières Canada
- Centre d’études avancées en médecine du sommeil (CÉAMS), Centre de Recherche de l’Hôpital du Sacré‐Cœur de Montréal, Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux du Nord‐de‐l’Île‐de‐Montréal (CIUSSS du Nord‐de‐l’Île‐de‐Montréal) Canada
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26
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Lifelong changes of neurotransmitter receptor expression and debilitation of hippocampal synaptic plasticity following early postnatal blindness. Sci Rep 2022; 12:9142. [PMID: 35650390 PMCID: PMC9160005 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-13127-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2022] [Accepted: 05/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
In the weeks immediately after onset of sensory loss, extensive reorganization of both the cortex and hippocampus occurs. Two fundamental characteristics comprise widespread changes in the relative expression of GABA and glutamate receptors and debilitation of hippocampal synaptic plasticity. Here, we explored whether recovery from adaptive changes in the expression of plasticity-related neurotransmitter receptors and hippocampal synaptic plasticity occurs in the time-period of up to 12 months after onset of sensory loss. We compared receptor expression in CBA/J mice that develop hereditary blindness, with CBA/CaOlaHsd mice that have intact vision and no deficits in other sensory modalities throughout adulthood. GluN1-subunit expression was reduced and the GluN2A:GluN2B ratio was persistently altered in cortex and hippocampus. GABA-receptor expression was decreased and metabotropic glutamate receptor expression was altered. Hippocampal synaptic plasticity was persistently compromised in vivo. But although LTP in blind mice was chronically impaired throughout adulthood, a recovery of the early phase of LTP became apparent when the animals reached 12 months of age. These data show that cortical and hippocampal adaptation to early postnatal blindness progresses into advanced adulthood and is a process that compromises hippocampal function. A partial recovery of hippocampal synaptic plasticity emerges in advanced adulthood, however.
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27
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Grey Matter Hypertrophy and Atrophy in Early-Blind Adolescents: A Surface-Based Morphometric Study. DISEASE MARKERS 2022; 2022:8550714. [PMID: 35557871 PMCID: PMC9090530 DOI: 10.1155/2022/8550714] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2021] [Accepted: 04/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Objective This study is aimed at exploring the regional changes in brain cortical morphology (thickness, volume, and surface area) in the early-blind adolescents (EBAs) by using the surface-based morphometric (SBM) method. Methods High-resolution structural T1-weighted images (T1WI) of 23 early-blind adolescents (EBAs) and 21 age- and gender-matched normal-sighted controls (NSCs) were acquired. Structural indices, including cortical thickness (CT), cortical volume (CV), and surface area (SA), were analyzed by using FreeSurfer software, and the correlations between structural indices and the blindness duration were computed by Pearson correlation analysis. Results Compared to controls, EBAs had significantly reduced CV and SA mainly in the primary visual cortex (V1) and decreased CV in the left vision-related cortices (r-MFC). There were no regions that EBAs had a significantly larger CV or SA than NSCs. EBAs had significantly increased CT in the V1 and strongly involved the visual cortex (right lateral occipital gyrus, LOG.R) and the left superior temporal gyrus (STG.L), while it had decreased CT in the left superior parietal lobule (SPL.L) and the right lingual gyrus (LING.R). Additionally, no correlation was found between cortical morphometric measures and clinical variables in the EBA group. Conclusions SBM is a useful method for detecting human brain structural abnormalities in blindness. The results showed that these structural abnormalities in the visual cortex and visual-related areas outside the occipital cortex in the EBAs not only may be influenced by neurodevelopment, degeneration, plasticity, and so on but also involved the interaction of these factors after the early visual deprivation.
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28
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Abstract
For four decades, investigations of the biological basis of critical periods in the developing mammalian visual cortex were dominated by study of the consequences of altered early visual experience in cats and nonhuman primates. The neural deficits thus revealed also provided insight into the origin and neural basis of human amblyopia that in turn motivated additional studies of humans with abnormal early visual input. Recent human studies point to deficits arising from alterations in all visual cortical areas and even in nonvisual cortical regions. As the new human data accumulated in parallel with a near-complete shift toward the use of rodent animal models for the study of neural mechanisms, it is now essential to review the human data and the earlier animal data obtained from cats and monkeys to infer general conclusions and to optimize future choice of the most appropriate animal model. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Vision Science, Volume 8 is September 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Donald E Mitchell
- Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada;
| | - Daphne Maurer
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada;
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29
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de Sousa AA, Todorov OS, Proulx MJ. A natural history of vertebrate vision loss: Insight from mammalian vision for human visual function. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2022; 134:104550. [PMID: 35074313 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104550] [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: 03/27/2020] [Revised: 10/08/2021] [Accepted: 01/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Research on the origin of vision and vision loss in naturally "blind" animal species can reveal the tasks that vision fulfills and the brain's role in visual experience. Models that incorporate evolutionary history, natural variation in visual ability, and experimental manipulations can help disentangle visual ability at a superficial level from behaviors linked to vision but not solely reliant upon it, and could assist the translation of ophthalmological research in animal models to human treatments. To unravel the similarities between blind individuals and blind species, we review concepts of 'blindness' and its behavioral correlates across a range of species. We explore the ancestral emergence of vision in vertebrates, and the loss of vision in blind species with reference to an evolution-based classification scheme. We applied phylogenetic comparative methods to a mammalian tree to explore the evolution of visual acuity using ancestral state estimations. Future research into the natural history of vision loss could help elucidate the function of vision and inspire innovations in how to address vision loss in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra A de Sousa
- Centre for Health and Cognition, Bath Spa University, Bath, United Kingdom; UKRI Centre for Accessible, Responsible & Transparent Artificial Intelligence (ART:AI), University of Bath, United Kingdom.
| | - Orlin S Todorov
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
| | - Michael J Proulx
- UKRI Centre for Accessible, Responsible & Transparent Artificial Intelligence (ART:AI), University of Bath, United Kingdom; Department of Psychology, REVEAL Research Centre, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom
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30
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Feng Y, Collignon O, Maurer D, Yao K, Gao X. Brief Postnatal Visual Deprivation Triggers Long-Lasting Interactive Structural and Functional Reorganization of the Human Cortex. Front Med (Lausanne) 2021; 8:752021. [PMID: 34869446 PMCID: PMC8635780 DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2021.752021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2021] [Accepted: 10/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Patients treated for bilateral congenital cataracts provide a unique model to test the role of early visual input in shaping the development of the human cortex. Previous studies showed that brief early visual deprivation triggers long-lasting changes in the human visual cortex. However, it remains unknown if such changes interact with the development of other parts of the cortex. With high-resolution structural and resting-state fMRI images, we found changes in cortical thickness within, but not limited to, the visual cortex in adult patients, who experienced transient visual deprivation early in life as a result of congenital cataracts. Importantly, the covariation of cortical thickness across regions was also altered in the patients. The areas with altered cortical thickness in patients also showed differences in functional connectivity between patients and normally sighted controls. Together, the current findings suggest an impact of early visual deprivation on the interactive development of the human cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yixuan Feng
- Eye Center of the Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.,Zhejiang Provincial Key Lab of Ophthalmology, Hangzhou, China
| | - Olivier Collignon
- Institute of Research in Psychology/Institute of Neuroscience, University of Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.,Centro Interdipartimentale Mente/Cervello, Università di Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Daphne Maurer
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.,The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Ke Yao
- Eye Center of the Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.,Zhejiang Provincial Key Lab of Ophthalmology, Hangzhou, China
| | - Xiaoqing Gao
- Center for Psychological Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
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31
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Hahamy A, Wilf M, Rosin B, Behrmann M, Malach R. How do the blind 'see'? The role of spontaneous brain activity in self-generated perception. Brain 2021; 144:340-353. [PMID: 33367630 PMCID: PMC7880672 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awaa384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2020] [Revised: 08/12/2020] [Accepted: 09/01/2020] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Spontaneous activity of the human brain has been well documented, but little is known about the functional role of this ubiquitous neural phenomenon. It has previously been hypothesized that spontaneous brain activity underlies unprompted (internally generated) behaviour. We tested whether spontaneous brain activity might underlie internally-generated vision by studying the cortical visual system of five blind/visually-impaired individuals who experience vivid visual hallucinations (Charles Bonnet syndrome). Neural populations in the visual system of these individuals are deprived of external input, which may lead to their hyper-sensitization to spontaneous activity fluctuations. To test whether these spontaneous fluctuations can subserve visual hallucinations, the functional MRI brain activity of participants with Charles Bonnet syndrome obtained while they reported their hallucinations (spontaneous internally-generated vision) was compared to the: (i) brain activity evoked by veridical vision (externally-triggered vision) in sighted controls who were presented with a visual simulation of the hallucinatory streams; and (ii) brain activity of non-hallucinating blind controls during visual imagery (cued internally-generated vision). All conditions showed activity spanning large portions of the visual system. However, only the hallucination condition in the Charles Bonnet syndrome participants demonstrated unique temporal dynamics, characterized by a slow build-up of neural activity prior to the reported onset of hallucinations. This build-up was most pronounced in early visual cortex and then decayed along the visual hierarchy. These results suggest that, in the absence of external visual input, a build-up of spontaneous fluctuations in early visual cortex may activate the visual hierarchy, thereby triggering the experience of vision.
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Affiliation(s)
- Avital Hahamy
- The Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1N 3AR, UK.,Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 7610001, Israel
| | - Meytal Wilf
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), Switzerland
| | - Boris Rosin
- Department of Ophthalmology, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, 91120, Israel.,Department of Ophthalmology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - Marlene Behrmann
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - Rafael Malach
- Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 7610001, Israel
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32
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Chen W, Lan L, Xiao W, Li J, Liu J, Zhao F, Wang CD, Zheng Y, Chen W, Cai Y. Reduced Functional Connectivity in Children With Congenital Cataracts Using Resting-State Electroencephalography Measurement. Front Neurosci 2021; 15:657865. [PMID: 33935639 PMCID: PMC8079630 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.657865] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2021] [Accepted: 03/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Objectives Numerous task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging studies indicate the presence of compensatory functional improvement in patients with congenital cataracts. However, there is neuroimaging evidence that shows decreased sensory perception or cognition information processing related to visual dysfunction, which favors a general loss hypothesis. This study explored the functional connectivity between visual and other networks in children with congenital cataracts using resting state electroencephalography. Methods Twenty-one children with congenital cataracts (age: 8.02 ± 2.03 years) and thirty-five sex- and age-matched normal sighted controls were enrolled to investigate functional connectivity between the visual cortex and the default mode network, the salience network, and the cerebellum network during resting state electroencephalography (eyes closed) recordings. Result The congenital cataract group was less active, than the control group, in the occipital, temporal, frontal and limbic lobes in the theta, alpha, beta1 and beta2 frequency bands. Additionally, there was reduced alpha-band connectivity between the visual and somatosensory cortices and between regions of the frontal and parietal cortices associated with cognitive and attentive control. Conclusion The results indicate abnormalities in sensory, cognition, motion and execution functional connectivity across the developing brains of children with congenital cataracts when compared with normal controls. Reduced frontal alpha activity and alpha-band connectivity between the visual cortex and salience network might reflect attenuated inhibitory information flow, leading to higher attentional states, which could contribute to adaptation of environmental change in this group of patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wan Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Liping Lan
- Department of Otolaryngology, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.,Institute of Hearing and Speech-Language Science, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Wei Xiao
- State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jiahong Li
- Department of Otolaryngology, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.,Institute of Hearing and Speech-Language Science, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jiahao Liu
- Department of Otolaryngology, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.,Institute of Hearing and Speech-Language Science, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Fei Zhao
- Department of Speech and Language Therapy and Hearing Science, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff, United Kingdom.,Department of Hearing and Speech Science, Xinhua College, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Chang-Dong Wang
- School of Data and Computer Science, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yiqing Zheng
- Department of Otolaryngology, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.,Institute of Hearing and Speech-Language Science, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Weirong Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yuexin Cai
- Department of Otolaryngology, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.,Institute of Hearing and Speech-Language Science, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
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33
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Amemiya K, Morita T, Hirose S, Ikegami T, Hirashima M, Naito E. Neurological and behavioral features of locomotor imagery in the blind. Brain Imaging Behav 2021; 15:656-676. [PMID: 32240463 PMCID: PMC8032591 DOI: 10.1007/s11682-020-00275-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
In people with normal sight, mental simulation (motor imagery) of an experienced action involves a multisensory (especially kinesthetic and visual) emulation process associated with the action. Here, we examined how long-term blindness influences sensory experience during motor imagery and its neuronal correlates by comparing data obtained from blind and sighted people. We scanned brain activity with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while 16 sighted and 14 blind male volunteers imagined either walking or jogging around a circle of 2 m radius. In the training before fMRI, they performed these actions with their eyes closed. During scanning, we explicitly instructed the blindfolded participants to generate kinesthetic motor imagery. After the experimental run, they rated the degree to which their motor imagery became kinesthetic or spatio-visual. The imagery of blind people was more kinesthetic as per instructions, while that of the sighted group became more spatio-visual. The imagery of both groups commonly activated bilateral frontoparietal cortices including supplementary motor areas (SMA). Despite the lack of group differences in degree of brain activation, we observed stronger functional connectivity between the SMA and cerebellum in the blind group compared to that in the sighted group. To conclude, long-term blindness likely changes sensory emulation during motor imagery to a more kinesthetic mode, which may be associated with stronger functional coupling in kinesthetic brain networks compared with that in sighted people. This study adds valuable knowledge on motor cognition and mental imagery processes in the blind.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaoru Amemiya
- Center for Information and Neural Networks (CiNet), National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), 1-4 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan
| | - Tomoyo Morita
- Center for Information and Neural Networks (CiNet), National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), 1-4 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan
- Institute for Open and Transdisciplinary Research Initiatives, Osaka University, 1-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan
| | - Satoshi Hirose
- Center for Information and Neural Networks (CiNet), National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), 1-4 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan
- Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, 1-3 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan
| | - Tsuyoshi Ikegami
- Center for Information and Neural Networks (CiNet), National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), 1-4 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan
- Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, 1-3 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan
| | - Masaya Hirashima
- Center for Information and Neural Networks (CiNet), National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), 1-4 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan
- Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, 1-3 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan
| | - Eiichi Naito
- Center for Information and Neural Networks (CiNet), National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), 1-4 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan.
- Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, 1-3 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan.
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34
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The acts of opening and closing the eyes are of importance for congenital blindness: Evidence from resting-state fMRI. Neuroimage 2021; 233:117966. [PMID: 33744460 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.117966] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2020] [Revised: 02/07/2021] [Accepted: 03/08/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Volitional eye closure is observed only in conscious and awake humans, and is rare in animals. It is believed that eye closure can focus one's attention inward and facilitate activities such as meditation and mental imagery. Congenital blind individuals are also required to close their eyes for these activities. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (RS-fMRI) studies have found robust differences between the eyes-closed (EC) and eyes-open (EO) conditions in some brain regions in the sighted. This study analyzed data from 21 congenital blind individuals and 21 sighted controls by using amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) of RS-fMRI. The blind group and the sighted group shared similar pattern of differences between the EC and EO condition: ALFF was higher in the EC condition than the EO condition in the bilateral primary sensorimotor cortex, bilateral supplementary motor area, and inferior occipital cortex, while ALFF was lower in the EC condition than the EO condition in the medial prefrontal cortex, highlighting the "nature" effect on the difference between the EC and EO conditions. The results of other matrices such as fractional ALFF (fALFF) and regional homogeneity (ReHo) showed similar patterns to that of ALFF. Moreover, no significant difference was observed between the EC-EO pattern of the two subgroups of congenital blind (i.e., with and without light perception), suggesting that the EC-EO difference is irrespective of residual light perception which reinforced the "nature" effect. We also found between-group differences, i.e., more probably "nurture effect", in the posterior insula and fusiform. Our results suggest that the acts of closing and opening the eyes are of importance for the congenital blind, and that these actions and their differences might be inherent in the nature of humans.
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35
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Bridge H, Coullon GSL, Morjaria R, Trossman R, Warnaby CE, Leatherbarrow B, Foster RG, Downes SM. The Effect of Congenital and Acquired Bilateral Anophthalmia on Brain Structure. Neuroophthalmology 2021; 45:75-86. [PMID: 34108778 PMCID: PMC8158038 DOI: 10.1080/01658107.2020.1856143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022] Open
Abstract
The aim of this study was to compare the pattern of changes in brain structure resulting from congenital and acquired bilateral anophthalmia. Brain structure was investigated using 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in Oxford (congenital) or Manchester (acquired). T1-weighted structural and diffusion-weighted scans were acquired from people with anophthalmia and sighted control participants. Differences in grey matter between the groups were quantified using voxel-based morphometry and differences in white matter microstructure using tract-based spatial statistics. Quantification of optic nerve volume and cortical thickness in visual regions was also performed in all groups. The optic nerve was reduced in volume in both anophthalmic populations, but to a greater extent in the congenital group and anophthalmia acquired at an early age. A similar pattern was found for the white matter microstructure throughout the occipitotemporal regions of the brain, suggesting a greater reduction of integrity with increasing duration of anophthalmia. In contrast, grey matter volume changes differed between the two groups, with the acquired anophthalmia group showing a decrease in the calcarine sulcus, corresponding to the area that would have been peripheral primary visual cortex. In contrast, the acquired anophthalmia group showed a decrease in grey matter volume in the calcarine sulcus corresponding to the area that would have been peripheral primary visual cortex. There are both qualitative and quantitative differences in structural brain changes in congenital and acquired anophthalmia, indicating differential effects of development and degeneration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly Bridge
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK
| | - Gaelle S L Coullon
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK
| | - Rupal Morjaria
- Oxford Eye Hospital, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK.,Birmingham Midland Eye Centre, Sandwell & West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, Birmingham, West Midlands, UK
| | - Rebecca Trossman
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK
| | - Catherine E Warnaby
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK
| | | | - Russell G Foster
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Sleep & Circadian Neuroscience Institute (SCNi) and Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Oxford, UK
| | - Susan M Downes
- Oxford Eye Hospital, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK
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36
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Ankeeta A, Senthil Kumaran S, Saxena R, Dwivedi SN, Jagannathan NR. Visual Cortex Alterations in Early and Late Blind Subjects During Tactile Perception. Perception 2021; 50:249-265. [PMID: 33593140 DOI: 10.1177/0301006621991953] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Involvement of visual cortex varies during tactile perception tasks in early blind (EB) and late blind (LB) human subjects. This study explored differences in sensory motor networks associated with tactile task in EB and LB subjects and between children and adolescents. A total of 40 EB subjects, 40 LB subjects, and 30 sighted controls were recruited in two subgroups: children (6-12 years) and adolescents (13-19 years). Data were acquired using a 3T MR scanner. Analyses of blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD), functional connectivity (FC), correlation, and post hoc test for multiple comparisons were carried out. Difference in BOLD activity was observed in EB and LB groups in visual cortex during tactile perception, with increased FC of visual with dorsal attention and sensory motor networks in EB. EB adolescents exhibited increased connectivity with default mode and salience networks when compared with LB. Functional results correlated with duration of training, suggestive of better performance in EB. Alteration in sensory and visual networks in EB and LB correlated with duration of tactile training. Age of onset of blindness has an effect in cross-modal reorganization of visual cortex in EB and multimodal in LB in children and adolescents.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Ankeeta
- 28730All India Institute of Medical Sciences, India
| | | | - Rohit Saxena
- 28730All India Institute of Medical Sciences, India
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37
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Ptito M, Bleau M, Djerourou I, Paré S, Schneider FC, Chebat DR. Brain-Machine Interfaces to Assist the Blind. Front Hum Neurosci 2021; 15:638887. [PMID: 33633557 PMCID: PMC7901898 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.638887] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2020] [Accepted: 01/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maurice Ptito
- École d’Optométrie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Maxime Bleau
- École d’Optométrie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Ismaël Djerourou
- École d’Optométrie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Samuel Paré
- École d’Optométrie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Fabien C. Schneider
- TAPE EA7423 University of Lyon-Saint Etienne, Saint Etienne, France
- Neuroradiology Unit, University Hospital of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, France
| | - Daniel-Robert Chebat
- Visual and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory (VCN Lab), Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ariel University, Ariel, Israël
- Navigation and Accessibility Research Center of Ariel University (NARCA), Ariel, Israël
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38
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Visual motion processing recruits regions selective for auditory motion in early deaf individuals. Neuroimage 2021; 230:117816. [PMID: 33524580 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.117816] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2020] [Revised: 01/18/2021] [Accepted: 01/25/2021] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
In early deaf individuals, the auditory deprived temporal brain regions become engaged in visual processing. In our study we tested further the hypothesis that intrinsic functional specialization guides the expression of cross-modal responses in the deprived auditory cortex. We used functional MRI to characterize the brain response to horizontal, radial and stochastic visual motion in early deaf and hearing individuals matched for the use of oral or sign language. Visual motion showed enhanced response in the 'deaf' mid-lateral planum temporale, a region selective to auditory motion as demonstrated by a separate auditory motion localizer in hearing people. Moreover, multivariate pattern analysis revealed that this reorganized temporal region showed enhanced decoding of motion categories in the deaf group, while visual motion-selective region hMT+/V5 showed reduced decoding when compared to hearing people. Dynamic Causal Modelling revealed that the 'deaf' motion-selective temporal region shows a specific increase of its functional interactions with hMT+/V5 and is now part of a large-scale visual motion selective network. In addition, we observed preferential responses to radial, compared to horizontal, visual motion in the 'deaf' right superior temporal cortex region that also show preferential response to approaching/receding sounds in the hearing brain. Overall, our results suggest that the early experience of auditory deprivation interacts with intrinsic constraints and triggers a large-scale reallocation of computational load between auditory and visual brain regions that typically support the multisensory processing of motion information.
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39
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Röder B, Kekunnaya R, Guerreiro MJS. Neural mechanisms of visual sensitive periods in humans. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2020; 120:86-99. [PMID: 33242562 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.10.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2020] [Accepted: 10/08/2020] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Sensitive periods in brain development are phases of enhanced susceptibility to experience. Here we discuss research from human and non-human neuroscience studies which have demonstrated a) differences in the way infants vs. adults learn; b) how the brain adapts to atypical conditions, in particular a congenital vs. a late onset blindness (sensitive periods for atypical brain development); and c) the extent to which neural systems are capable of acquiring a typical brain organization after sight restoration following a congenital vs. late phase of pattern vision deprivation (sensitive periods for typical brain development). By integrating these three lines of research, we propose neural mechanisms characteristic of sensitive periods vs. adult neuroplasticity and learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brigitte Röder
- Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Hamburg, Germany.
| | - Ramesh Kekunnaya
- Jasti V Ramanamma Children's Eye Care Center, LV Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, India
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40
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Touj S, Gallino D, Chakravarty MM, Bronchti G, Piché M. Structural brain plasticity induced by early blindness. Eur J Neurosci 2020; 53:778-795. [PMID: 33113245 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2020] [Revised: 09/28/2020] [Accepted: 10/20/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
It is well established that early blindness results in behavioural adaptations. While the functional effects of visual deprivation have been well researched, anatomical studies are scarce. The aim of this study was to investigate whole brain structural plasticity in a mouse model of congenital blindness. Volumetric analyses were conducted on high-resolution MRI images and histological sections from the same brains. These morphometric measurements were compared between anophthalmic and sighted ZRDBA mice obtained by breeding ZRDCT and DBA mice. Results from MRI analyses using the Multiple Automatically Generated Templates (MAGeT) method showed smaller volume for the primary visual cortex and superior colliculi in anophthalmic compared with sighted mice. Deformation-based morphometry revealed smaller volumes within the dorsal lateral geniculate nuclei and the lateral secondary visual cortex and larger volumes within olfactory areas, piriform cortex, orbital areas and the amygdala, in anophthalmic compared with sighted mice. Histological analyses revealed a larger volume for the amygdala and smaller volume for the superior colliculi, primary visual cortex and medial secondary visual cortex, in anophthalmic compared with sighted mice. The absence of superficial visual layers of the superior colliculus and the thinner cortical layer IV of the primary and secondary visual cortices may explain the smaller volume of these areas, although this was observed in a limited sample. The present study shows large-scale brain plasticity in a mouse model of congenital blindness. In addition, the congruence of MRI and histological findings support the use of MRI to investigate structural brain plasticity in the mouse.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Touj
- Department of Anatomy, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada.,CogNAC Research Group, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada
| | - Daniel Gallino
- Computational Brain Anatomy Laboratory, Brain Imaging Center, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Verdun, QC, Canada
| | - Mallar M Chakravarty
- Computational Brain Anatomy Laboratory, Brain Imaging Center, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Verdun, QC, Canada.,Department of Biological and Biomedical Engineering, McGill, Montréal, QC, Canada.,Department of Psychiatry, McGill, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Gilles Bronchti
- Department of Anatomy, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada.,CogNAC Research Group, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada
| | - Mathieu Piché
- Department of Anatomy, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada.,CogNAC Research Group, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada
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41
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Anurova I, Carlson S, Rauschecker JP. Overlapping Anatomical Networks Convey Cross-Modal Suppression in the Sighted and Coactivation of "Visual" and Auditory Cortex in the Blind. Cereb Cortex 2020; 29:4863-4876. [PMID: 30843062 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhz021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2018] [Revised: 01/09/2019] [Accepted: 01/29/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In the present combined DTI/fMRI study we investigated adaptive plasticity of neural networks involved in controlling spatial and nonspatial auditory working memory in the early blind (EB). In both EB and sighted controls (SC), fractional anisotropy (FA) within the right inferior longitudinal fasciculus correlated positively with accuracy in a one-back sound localization but not sound identification task. The neural tracts passing through the cluster of significant correlation connected auditory and "visual" areas in the right hemisphere. Activity in these areas during both sound localization and identification correlated with FA within the anterior corpus callosum, anterior thalamic radiation, and inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus. In EB, FA in these structures correlated positively with activity in both auditory and "visual" areas, whereas FA in SC correlated positively with activity in auditory and negatively with activity in visual areas. The results indicate that frontal white matter conveys cross-modal suppression of occipital areas in SC, while it mediates coactivation of auditory and reorganized "visual" cortex in EB.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irina Anurova
- Helsinki Institute of Life Science, Neuroscience Center, University of Helsinki, Helsinki 00014, Finland.,Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC 20057, USA
| | - Synnöve Carlson
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, School of Science, Aalto University, Espoo 02150, Finland.,Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki 00014, Finland
| | - Josef P Rauschecker
- Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC 20057, USA.,Institute for Advanced Study, Technical University of Munich, Munich 85748, Germany
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42
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Kanjlia S, Pant R, Bedny M. Sensitive Period for Cognitive Repurposing of Human Visual Cortex. Cereb Cortex 2020; 29:3993-4005. [PMID: 30418533 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhy280] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2018] [Revised: 09/03/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies of sensory loss are a model for understanding the functional flexibility of human cortex. In congenital blindness, subsets of visual cortex are recruited during higher-cognitive tasks, such as language and math tasks. Is such dramatic functional repurposing possible throughout the lifespan or restricted to sensitive periods in development? We compared visual cortex function in individuals who lost their vision as adults (after age 17) to congenitally blind and sighted blindfolded adults. Participants took part in resting-state and task-based fMRI scans during which they solved math equations of varying difficulty and judged the meanings of sentences. Blindness at any age caused "visual" cortices to synchronize with specific frontoparietal networks at rest. However, in task-based data, visual cortices showed regional specialization for math and language and load-dependent activity only in congenital blindness. Thus, despite the presence of long-range functional connectivity, cognitive repurposing of human cortex is limited by sensitive periods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shipra Kanjlia
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
| | - Rashi Pant
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
| | - Marina Bedny
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
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43
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De León Reyes NS, Bragg-Gonzalo L, Nieto M. Development and plasticity of the corpus callosum. Development 2020; 147:147/18/dev189738. [PMID: 32988974 DOI: 10.1242/dev.189738] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
The corpus callosum (CC) connects the cerebral hemispheres and is the major mammalian commissural tract. It facilitates bilateral sensory integration and higher cognitive functions, and is often affected in neurodevelopmental diseases. Here, we review the mechanisms that contribute to the development of CC circuits in animal models and humans. These species comparisons reveal several commonalities. First, there is an early period of massive axonal projection. Second, there is a postnatal temporal window, varying between species, in which early callosal projections are selectively refined. Third, sensory-derived activity influences axonal refinement. We also discuss how defects in CC formation can lead to mild or severe CC congenital malformations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noelia S De León Reyes
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, (CNB-CSIC) Campus de Cantoblanco, Darwin 3, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Lorena Bragg-Gonzalo
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, (CNB-CSIC) Campus de Cantoblanco, Darwin 3, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Marta Nieto
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, (CNB-CSIC) Campus de Cantoblanco, Darwin 3, 28049 Madrid, Spain
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44
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Tonelli A, Campus C, Gori M. Early visual cortex response for sound in expert blind echolocators, but not in early blind non-echolocators. Neuropsychologia 2020; 147:107617. [PMID: 32896527 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107617] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2020] [Revised: 08/25/2020] [Accepted: 08/31/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Echolocation is a perceptual and navigational skill that can be acquired by some individuals. Regarding blind people, this skill can help them "see" the environment around them via a new form of auditory information based on echoes. Expert human echolocators benefit from using this technique not only in controlled environments but also in their everyday lives. In the current study, we investigate the effect of echolocation on blind people's auditory spatial abilities at the cortical level. In an auditory spatial bisection task, we tested people who are early blinds and early blind expert echolocators, along with sighted people. Our results showed that there is similar early activation (50-90 ms) in the posterior area of the scalp for both early blind expert echolocators and sighted participants, but not in the early blind group. This activation was related to sound stimulation, and it is contralateral to the position of the sound in space. These findings indicate that echolocation is a good substitute for the visual modality that enables the development of auditory spatial representations when vision is not available.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessia Tonelli
- UVIP, Unit for Visually Impaired People, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy; Department of Translational Research of New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
| | - Claudio Campus
- UVIP, Unit for Visually Impaired People, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy
| | - Monica Gori
- UVIP, Unit for Visually Impaired People, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy
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45
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Heimler B, Amedi A. Are critical periods reversible in the adult brain? Insights on cortical specializations based on sensory deprivation studies. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2020; 116:494-507. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.06.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2019] [Revised: 06/07/2020] [Accepted: 06/25/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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46
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Peter MG, Fransson P, Mårtensson G, Postma EM, Nordin LE, Westman E, Boesveldt S, Lundström JN. Normal Olfactory Functional Connectivity Despite Lifelong Absence of Olfactory Experiences. Cereb Cortex 2020; 31:159-168. [PMID: 32810869 PMCID: PMC7727390 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaa217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2020] [Revised: 07/13/2020] [Accepted: 07/13/2020] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Congenital blindness is associated with atypical morphology and functional connectivity within and from visual cortical regions; changes that are hypothesized to originate from a lifelong absence of visual input and could be regarded as a general (re) organization principle of sensory cortices. Challenging this is the fact that individuals with congenital anosmia (lifelong olfactory sensory loss) display little to no morphological changes in the primary olfactory cortex. To determine whether olfactory input from birth is essential to establish and maintain normal functional connectivity in olfactory processing regions, akin to the visual system, we assessed differences in functional connectivity within the olfactory cortex between individuals with congenital anosmia (n = 33) and matched controls (n = 33). Specifically, we assessed differences in connectivity between core olfactory processing regions as well as differences in regional homogeneity and homotopic connectivity within the primary olfactory cortex. In contrast to congenital blindness, none of the analyses indicated atypical connectivity in individuals with congenital anosmia. In fact, post-hoc Bayesian analysis provided support for an absence of group differences. These results suggest that a lifelong absence of olfactory experience has a limited impact on the functional connectivity in the olfactory cortex, a finding that indicates a clear difference between sensory modalities in how sensory cortical regions develop.
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Affiliation(s)
- Moa G Peter
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Peter Fransson
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Gustav Mårtensson
- Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Elbrich M Postma
- Division of Human Nutrition and Health, Wageningen University, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands.,Smell and Taste Centre, Hospital Gelderse Vallei, 6716 RP Ede, The Netherlands
| | - Love Engström Nordin
- Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.,Department of Diagnostic Medical Physics, Karolinska University Hospital, 171 64 Solna, Sweden
| | - Eric Westman
- Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.,Department of Neuroimaging, Centre for Neuroimaging Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, SE5 8AF, UK
| | - Sanne Boesveldt
- Division of Human Nutrition and Health, Wageningen University, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Johan N Lundström
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.,Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.,Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.,Stockholm University Brain Imaging Centre, Stockholm University, 114 18 Stockholm, Sweden
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47
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Amadeo MB, Campus C, Gori M. Years of Blindness Lead to "Visualize" Space Through Time. Front Neurosci 2020; 14:812. [PMID: 32848573 PMCID: PMC7418563 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2020.00812] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2020] [Accepted: 07/10/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Spatial representation has been widely studied in early blindness, whereas research about late blindness is still limited. We recently demonstrated that the early (50-90 ms) event-related potential (ERP) response observed in sighted people during a spatial bisection task, is altered in early blind people and is influenced by the amount of time spent without vision in late blind individuals. Specifically, in late blind people a shorter period of blindness is associated with strong contralateral activation in occipital cortex and good performance during the spatial task-similar to that of sighted people. In contrast, non-lateralized occipital activation and lower performance characterize late blind individuals who have experienced a longer period of blindness-similar to that of early blind people. However, the same early occipital response activated in sighted individuals by spatial cues has been found to be activated by temporal cues in early blind individuals. Here, we investigate whether a similar temporal attraction can explain the neural and behavioral changes observed after many years of blindness in late blind people. An EEG recording was taken during a spatial bisection task where coherent and conflicting spatio-temporal information was presented. In participants with long blindness duration, the early recruitment of both visual and auditory areas is sensitive to temporal instead of spatial coordinates. These findings highlight some limits of neuroplasticity. Perceptual advantages from cross-sensory calibration during development seem to be subsequently lost following years of visual deprivation. This result has important implications for clinical outcomes following late blindness, highlighting the importance of timing in intervention and rehabilitation programs that activate compensatory strategies soon after sensory loss.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Bianca Amadeo
- Unit for Visually Impaired People, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy
- Department of Informatics, Bioengineering, Robotics and Systems Engineering, Università degli Studi di Genova, Genova, Italy
| | - Claudio Campus
- Unit for Visually Impaired People, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy
| | - Monica Gori
- Unit for Visually Impaired People, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy
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48
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Wang YM, Zhang YJ, Cai XL, Yang HX, Shan HD, Cheung EFC, Chan RCK. Altered grey matter volume and white matter integrity in individuals with high schizo-obsessive traits, high schizotypal traits and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Asian J Psychiatr 2020; 52:102096. [PMID: 32315977 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2019] [Revised: 04/02/2020] [Accepted: 04/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Altered brain structures have been found in patients with schizo-obsessive disorder, schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder in previous studies. However, it is unclear whether similar brain changes are also found in individuals with high schizo-obsessive traits (SOT), high schizotypal traits (SCT) and obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS). We examined grey matter volume (GMV) and white matter integrity (WMI, including fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, axial diffusivity and radial diffusivity) in 26 individuals with high SOT, 30 individuals with high SCT, 25 individuals with OCS and 30 individuals with low trait scores (LT) in this study. Correlation analysis between GMV, WMI, Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) scores and Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised (OCI-R) scores in the subclinical groups was also carried out. We found that the SOT group exhibited increased GMV at the right superior occipital gyrus and the left postcentral gyrus compared with the LT group. The SCT group exhibited increased GMV at the right precentral gyrus and the bilateral cuneus compared with the LT group, and decreased fractional anisotropy at the anterior corona radiata compared with the other three groups. The OCS group exhibited increased GMV at the left superior temporal gyrus and decreased GMV at the left pre-supplementary motor area compared with the LT group. These findings highlight specific brain changes in individuals with high SOT, high SCT and OCS, and may thus provide new insights into the neurobiological changes that occur in sub-clinical populations of these disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yong-Ming Wang
- Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, 100101, PR China; Sino-Danish College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, PR China; Sino-Danish Center for Education and Research, Beijing, 100190, PR China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, PR China
| | - Yi-Jing Zhang
- Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, 100101, PR China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, PR China
| | - Xin-Lu Cai
- Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, 100101, PR China; Sino-Danish College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, PR China; Sino-Danish Center for Education and Research, Beijing, 100190, PR China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, PR China
| | - Han-Xue Yang
- Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, 100101, PR China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, PR China
| | - Hai-di Shan
- Translational Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Shanghai Mental Health Centre, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, PR China
| | - Eric F C Cheung
- Castle Peak Hospital, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, PR China
| | - Raymond C K Chan
- Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, 100101, PR China; Sino-Danish College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, PR China; Sino-Danish Center for Education and Research, Beijing, 100190, PR China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, PR China.
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49
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Topalidis P, Zinchenko A, Gädeke JC, Föcker J. The role of spatial selective attention in the processing of affective prosodies in congenitally blind adults: An ERP study. Brain Res 2020; 1739:146819. [PMID: 32251662 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2020.146819] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2019] [Revised: 03/25/2020] [Accepted: 04/02/2020] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
The question whether spatial selective attention is necessary in order to process vocal affective prosody has been controversially discussed in sighted individuals: whereas some studies argue that attention is required in order to process emotions, other studies conclude that vocal prosody can be processed even outside the focus of spatial selective attention. Here, we asked whether spatial selective attention is necessary for the processing of affective prosodies after visual deprivation from birth. For this purpose, pseudowords spoken in happy, neutral, fearful or threatening prosodies were presented at the left or right loudspeaker. Congenitally blind individuals (N = 8) and sighted controls (N = 13) had to attend to one of the loudspeakers and detect rare pseudowords presented at the attended loudspeaker during EEG recording. Emotional prosody of the syllables was task-irrelevant. Blind individuals outperformed sighted controls by being more efficient in detecting deviant syllables at the attended loudspeaker. A higher auditory N1 amplitude was observed in blind individuals compared to sighted controls. Additionally, sighted controls showed enhanced attention-related ERP amplitudes in response to fearful and threatening voices during the time range of the N1. By contrast, blind individuals revealed enhanced ERP amplitudes in attended relative to unattended locations irrespective of the affective valence in all time windows (110-350 ms). These effects were mainly observed at posterior electrodes. The results provide evidence for "emotion-general" auditory spatial selective attention effects in congenitally blind individuals and suggest a potential reorganization of the voice processing brain system following visual deprivation from birth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pavlos Topalidis
- Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany
| | - Artyom Zinchenko
- Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany
| | - Julia C Gädeke
- Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Hamburg, Germany
| | - Julia Föcker
- Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Hamburg, Germany; University of Lincoln, School of Social Sciences, United Kingdom.
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Scheller M, Proulx MJ, Haan M, Dahlmann‐Noor A, Petrini K. Late‐ but not early‐onset blindness impairs the development of audio‐haptic multisensory integration. Dev Sci 2020; 24:e13001. [DOI: 10.1111/desc.13001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2019] [Revised: 04/04/2020] [Accepted: 05/26/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Michelle Haan
- Developmental Neurosciences Programme University College London London UK
| | - Annegret Dahlmann‐Noor
- NIHR Biomedical Research Centre Moorfields London UK
- Paediatric Service Moorfields Eye Hospital London UK
| | - Karin Petrini
- Department of Psychology University of Bath London UK
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