The Effect of Visual Experience on the Development of Functional Architecture in hMT

We investigated whether the visual hMT+ cortex plays a role in supramodal representation of sensory flow, not mediated by visual mental imagery. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure neural activity in sighted and congenitally blind individuals during passive perception of optic a...

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Published in:Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. 1991) N.Y. 1991), 2007-12, Vol.17 (12), p.2933-2939
Main Authors: Ricciardi, Emiliano, Vanello, Nicola, Sani, Lorenzo, Gentili, Claudio, Scilingo, Enzo Pasquale, Landini, Luigi, Guazzelli, Mario, Bicchi, Antonio, Haxby, James V., Pietrini, Pietro
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Physiological
Adult
blind subjects
Blindness - physiopathology
Brain Mapping
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
hMT
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Motion Perception
Nerve Net - physiopathology
Neuronal Plasticity
optic flow
Photic Stimulation - methods
Physical Stimulation - methods
supramodality
tactile flow
Temporal Lobe - physiopathology
Touch
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Summary:We investigated whether the visual hMT+ cortex plays a role in supramodal representation of sensory flow, not mediated by visual mental imagery. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure neural activity in sighted and congenitally blind individuals during passive perception of optic and tactile flows. Visual motion–responsive cortex, including hMT+, was identified in the lateral occipital and inferior temporal cortices of the sighted subjects by response to optic flow. Tactile flow perception in sighted subjects activated the more anterior part of these cortical regions but deactivated the more posterior part. By contrast, perception of tactile flow in blind subjects activated the full extent, including the more posterior part. These results demonstrate that activation of hMT+ and surrounding cortex by tactile flow is not mediated by visual mental imagery and that the functional organization of hMT+ can develop to subserve tactile flow perception in the absence of any visual experience. Moreover, visual experience leads to a segregation of the motion-responsive occipitotemporal cortex into an anterior subregion involved in the representation of both optic and tactile flows and a posterior subregion that processes optic flow only.
ISSN:1047-3211
1460-2199
DOI:10.1093/cercor/bhm018