On the functionality of the visually deprived occipital cortex in early blind persons

Uhl, F.; Franzen, P.; Lindinger, G.; Lang, Wilfried; Deecke, Lüder

doi:10.1016/0304-3940(91)90107-5

Cited by 139 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…G. Cohen et al, 1997;Hyvärinen, Carlson, & Hyvärinen, 1981;Lanzenberger et al, 2001;Pietrini et al, 2004;Ptito & Kupers, 2005;Sadato, Okada, Honda, & Yonekura, 2002;Sadato et al, 1996;Stilla, Hanna, Hu, Mariola, Deshpande, & Sathian, 2008;Uhl, Franzen, Lindinger, Lang, & Deecke, 1991;Wanet-Defalque et al, 1988;Weaver & Stevens, 2007). A number of similar neurophysiological studies have additionally found that more "visual areas" are recruited for tactile and haptic tasks in the late blind than in the congenitally blind (e.g., Büchel, Price, Frackowiak, & Friston, 1998;Goyal, Hansen, & Blakemore, 2006).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Blindness enhances tactile acuity and haptic 3-D shape discrimination

Norman

Bartholomew

2011

Atten Percept Psychophys

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This study compared the sensory and perceptual abilities of the blind and sighted. The 32 participants were required to perform two tasks: tactile grating orientation discrimination (to determine tactile acuity) and haptic threedimensional (3-D) shape discrimination. The results indicated that the blind outperformed their sighted counterparts (individually matched for both age and sex) on both tactile tasks. The improvements in tactile acuity that accompanied blindness occurred for all blind groups (congenital, early, and late). However, the improvements in haptic 3-D shape discrimination only occurred for the early-onset and lateonset blindness groups; the performance of the congenitally blind was no better than that of the sighted controls. The results of the present study demonstrate that blindness does lead to an enhancement of tactile abilities, but they also suggest that early visual experience may play a role in facilitating haptic 3-D shape discrimination.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Blindness enhances tactile acuity and haptic 3-D shape discrimination

Norman

Bartholomew

2011

Atten Percept Psychophys

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“…Other properties, such as pyramidal cell size and dendritic complexity, change gradually in the anterior-posterior direction [87]. Another important observation is that patches of cortex can change their function, such as in the congenitally blind [88]. Thus, it has been suggested that long-range connectivity to other areas is rather what determines the function of a particular patch of cortex or a brain-wide network as a [80].…”

Section: Cytoarchitectonic Receptor Architectonic and Myeloarchitectmentioning

confidence: 99%

A rostro-caudal gradient of structured sequence processing in the left inferior frontal gyrus

Uddén

Bahlmann

2012

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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In this paper, we present two novel perspectives on the function of the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG). First, a structured sequence processing perspective facilitates the search for functional segregation within the LIFG and provides a way to express common aspects across cognitive domains including language, music and action. Converging evidence from functional magnetic resonance imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation studies suggests that the LIFG is engaged in sequential processing in artificial grammar learning, independently of particular stimulus features of the elements (whether letters, syllables or shapes are used to build up sequences). The LIFG has been repeatedly linked to processing of artificial grammars across all different grammars tested, whether they include non-adjacent dependencies or mere adjacent dependencies. Second, we apply the sequence processing perspective to understand how the functional segregation of semantics, syntax and phonology in the LIFG can be integrated in the general organization of the lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC). Recently, it was proposed that the functional organization of the lateral PFC follows a rostro-caudal gradient, such that more abstract processing in cognitive control is subserved by more rostral regions of the lateral PFC. We explore the literature from the viewpoint that functional segregation within the LIFG can be embedded in a general rostro-caudal abstraction gradient in the lateral PFC. If the lateral PFC follows a rostro-caudal abstraction gradient, then this predicts that the LIFG follows the same principles, but this prediction has not yet been tested or explored in the LIFG literature. Integration might provide further insights into the functional architecture of the LIFG and the lateral PFC.

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“…Assessing the effects of tactile reading by training sighted people to read Braille is prohibitive [Loomis, 1981;Uhl et al, 1991]. However, block capital letters can be readily identified through touch [Loomis, 1981;Vega-Bermudez et al, 1991] and performance accuracy is not affected when the letters are passively rubbed across a fingertip [Vega-Bermudez et al, 1991].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reading embossed capital letters: An fMRI study in blind and sighted individuals

Burton

McLaren

Sinclair

2005

Human Brain Mapping

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Reading Braille activates visual cortex in blind people [Burton et al., J Neurophysiol 2002;87:589-611; Sadato et al., Nature 1996;380:526-528; Sadato et al., Brain 1998;121:1213-1229]. Because learning Braille requires extensive training, we had sighted and blind people read raised block capital letters to determine whether all groups engage visual cortex similarly when reading by touch. Letters were passively rubbed across the right index finger at 30 mm/s using an MR-compatible drum stimulator. Age-matched sighted, early blind (lost sight 0-5 years), and late blind (lost sight >5.5 years) volunteers performed three tasks: stating an identified letter, stating a verb containing an identified letter, and feeling a moving smooth surface. Responses were voiced immediately after the drum stopped moving across the fingertip. All groups showed increased activity in visual areas V1 and V2 during both letter identification tasks. Blind compared to sighted participants showed greater activation increases predominantly in the parafoveal-peripheral portions of visuotopic areas and posterior parts of BA 20 and 37. Sighted participants showed suppressed activity in most of the same areas except for small positive responses bilaterally in V1, left V5/MT+, and bilaterally in BA 37/20. Blind individuals showed suppression of the language areas in the frontal cortex, while sighted individuals showed slight positive responses. Early blind showed a more extensive distribution of activity in superior temporal sulcal multisensory areas. These results show cross-modal reorganization of visual cortex and altered response dynamics in nonvisual areas that plausibly reflect mechanisms for adaptive plasticity in blindness.

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On the functionality of the visually deprived occipital cortex in early blind persons

Cited by 139 publications

References 11 publications

Blindness enhances tactile acuity and haptic 3-D shape discrimination

Blindness enhances tactile acuity and haptic 3-D shape discrimination

A rostro-caudal gradient of structured sequence processing in the left inferior frontal gyrus

Reading embossed capital letters: An fMRI study in blind and sighted individuals

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