Structural reorganization of the early visual cortex following Braille training in sighted adults
| Autor: | Artur Marchewka, Katarzyna Siuda-Krzywicka, Marcin Szwed, Ewa Sumera, Małgorzata Paplińska, Maria Zimmermann, Katarzyna Jednoróg, Łukasz Bola |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2017 |
| Předmět: |
0301 basic medicine
Male genetic structures medicine.medical_treatment lcsh:Medicine perception Somatosensory system Blindness 0302 clinical medicine Foveal Cortex (anatomy) Neural Pathways Longitudinal Studies Gray Matter lcsh:Science sensory processing Visual Cortex Multidisciplinary Neuronal Plasticity human behaviour Organ Size Middle Aged Magnetic Resonance Imaging White Matter Visual field medicine.anatomical_structure cortex Touch Perception Female Psychology Adult Sensory processing Rest Article 03 medical and health sciences Young Adult medicine Humans Learning Tactile discrimination lcsh:R Braille eye diseases 030104 developmental biology Visual cortex Reading Sensory Aids visual system lcsh:Q Neuroscience 030217 neurology & neurosurgery Follow-Up Studies |
| Zdroj: | Scientific Reports, Vol 7, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2017) Scientific Reports |
| Popis: | Training can induce cross-modal plasticity in the human cortex. A well-known example of this phenomenon is the recruitment of visual areas for tactile and auditory processing. It remains unclear to what extent such plasticity is associated with changes in anatomy. Here we enrolled 29 sighted adults into a nine-month tactile Braille-reading training, and used voxel-based morphometry and diffusion tensor imaging to describe the resulting anatomical changes. In addition, we collected resting-state fMRI data to relate these changes to functional connectivity between visual and somatosensory-motor cortices. Following Braille-training, we observed substantial grey and white matter reorganization in the anterior part of early visual cortex (peripheral visual field). Moreover, relative to its posterior, foveal part, the peripheral representation of early visual cortex had stronger functional connections to somatosensory and motor cortices even before the onset of training. Previous studies show that the early visual cortex can be functionally recruited for tactile discrimination, including recognition of Braille characters. Our results demonstrate that reorganization in this region induced by tactile training can also be anatomical. This change most likely reflects a strengthening of existing connectivity between the peripheral visual cortex and somatosensory cortices, which suggests a putative mechanism for cross-modal recruitment of visual areas. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|