SPECIFICITY OF TRAINING: CORTICAL ACTIVATION

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. Primary support for the subproject and the subproject's principal investigator may have been provided by other sources, including other NIH sources. The Total Cost listed for the subproject likely represents the estimated amount of Center infrastructure utilized by the subproject, not direct funding provided by the NCRR grant to the subproject or subproject staff. In a previous study using positron emission tomography (PET), Sadato N, Pascual-Leone A, Grafman J et al1 revealed that the visual cortex was involved with tactile tasks using the index finger in subjects who were blind, but not those who were sighted. In a similar study measuring spatial resolution limits, Van Boven RW, Hamilton RH, Kaufmann T2 et al found lower spatial acuity threshold in a dominant Braille reading finger tactile task versus the middle finger for those who were blind versus those who were sighted. Using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and a tactile discrimination task, we would like to further explore whether the same brain organization found in the first study exists for the adjacent, non-Braille reading finger. This will address specificity in brain organization and how the brain adapts to conditions that influence the senses, such as early blindness.