Role of Visual Cortex in Tactile Object Processing

描述（由申请人提供）：来自神经影像学研究的证据表明枕叶（视觉）皮层积极参与非视觉感觉任务。本研究的目的是回答两个问题：1)视觉皮质区域在多大程度上参与触觉感知和识别？2)缺乏视觉经验的先天失明者的触觉物体识别是否也涉及这些区域？我们将使用功能磁共振成像来回答这些问题。受试者将对触觉呈现的刺激（简单的纹理图案和复杂的物体，如人脸）进行空间辨别和物体识别任务。所提出的实验将有助于我们理解物体是如何在视觉大脑中呈现的，以及从触摸中获得的信息是如何有助于这一处理的。最后，在盲人中比较这些过程将有助于揭示在没有视觉的情况下允许感知物体表征的自适应机制。这些结果可能对盲人和视障人士的康复和教育产生影响。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Evidence from neuroimaging studies suggests the occipital (visual) cortex actively participates in non-visual sensory tasks. The purpose of this research is to answer two questions: 1) To what degree are visual cortical areas involved in tactile perception and recognition? 2) Are these same areas involved in tactile object recognition in congenitally blind individuals who lack prior visual experience? We will employ fMRI to answer these questions. Subjects will perform spatial discrimination and object recognition tasks to tactilely presented stimuli (simple texture patterns and complex objects such as faces). The proposed experiments will contribute to our understanding as to how objects are represented within the visual brain and how information obtained from touch contributes to this processing. Finally, comparing these processes in the blind will help uncover the adaptive mechanisms allowing perceptual object representation in the absence of vision. These results are likely to have implications for the rehabilitation and education of the blind and visually impaired.