Visual cortex plasticity in blindness: a window into flexibility of human cortex

失明时的视觉皮层可塑性:了解人类皮层灵活性的窗口

基本信息

  • 批准号:
    10016300
  • 负责人:
  • 金额:
    $ 45.21万
  • 依托单位:
  • 依托单位国家:
    美国
  • 项目类别:
  • 财政年份:
    2017
  • 资助国家:
    美国
  • 起止时间:
    2017-09-30 至 2022-06-30
  • 项目状态:
    已结题

项目摘要

PROJECT SUMMARY How functionally flexible is human cortex? The current proposal approaches this question by studying visual cortex plasticity in blindness. In individuals who are blind from birth, so-called “visual” cortices respond to touch and sound. How similar are these new functions to the original visual computations? A longstanding view is that functional reorganization is limited, even in cases of plasticity. Our recent published work and preliminary data, however, suggest that functional reorganization in the visual cortices of blind individuals may be more radical than previously thought. We find that regions within retinotopic visual cortices are active during language and math tasks, and that this activity is sensitive to the grammatical structure of sentences and the difficulty of math equations. Such functional repurposing is striking, in light of the cognitive and evolutionary differences between vision, language and mathematics. These new findings offer an unprecedented opportunity to test the limits of human cortical flexibility. In this proposal we test the hypothesis that human cortex is functionally pluripotent: capable of assuming a wide range of cognitive functions depending on input, where input is determined by experience and connectivity. We hypothesize that language-related plasticity in visual cortices is part of a broader phenomenon whereby, in blindness, visual cortices are colonized by multiple distinct higher-cognitive functions as a result of strong connectivity between visual cortex and higher-cognitive networks, and fronto-parietal networks in particular. Up until now there has been little evidence for specialization within visual cortices of blind individuals. Aim 1 tests the prediction that in individuals who are blind from birth different regions within visual cortices are specialized for: language, number, and cognitive control and that specialization is related to connectivity with different fronto-parietal networks. In the first part of Aim 2, we use multi-voxel pattern analysis and fMRI adaptation to test the prediction that visual cortices of blind individuals represent higher-cognitive information, such as the meanings of words and numerical quantity. Next we test the prediction that visual cortices are functionally relevant to higher-cognitive behavior using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Aim 3 examines the time-course of visual cortex plasticity during the lifespan. By working with individuals who lost their sight at different ages we test the hypothesis that cortex assumes higher-cognitive functions only during a sensitive period of development. This work is highly relevant to understanding the pathophysiology of visual impairments and uncovering the timing and mechanisms by which blindness affects the human brain. The insights about plasticity to be gained from the proposed project have far-reaching relevance for optimizing cortical function in the context of neurological and cognitive disabilities.
PROJECT SUMMARY How functionally flexible is human cortex? The current proposal approaches this question by studying visual cortex plasticity in blindness. In individuals who are blind from birth, so-called “visual” cortices respond to touch and sound. How similar are these new functions to the original visual computations? A longstanding view is that functional reorganization is limited, even in cases of plasticity. Our recent published work and preliminary data, however, suggest that functional reorganization in the visual cortices of blind individuals may be more radical than previously thought. We find that regions within retinotopic visual cortices are active during language and math tasks, and that this activity is sensitive to the grammatical structure of sentences and the difficulty of math equations. Such functional repurposing is striking, in light of the cognitive and evolutionary differences between vision, language and mathematics. These new findings offer an unprecedented opportunity to test the limits of human cortical flexibility. In this proposal we test the hypothesis that human cortex is functionally pluripotent: capable of assuming a wide range of cognitive functions depending on input, where input is determined by experience and connectivity. We hypothesize that language-related plasticity in visual cortices is part of a broader phenomenon whereby, in blindness, visual cortices are colonized by multiple distinct higher-cognitive functions as a result of strong connectivity between visual cortex and higher-cognitive networks, and fronto-parietal networks in particular. Up until now there has been little evidence for specialization within visual cortices of blind individuals. Aim 1 tests the prediction that in individuals who are blind from birth different regions within visual cortices are specialized for: language, number, and cognitive control and that specialization is related to connectivity with different fronto-parietal networks. In the first part of Aim 2, we use multi-voxel pattern analysis and fMRI adaptation to test the prediction that visual cortices of blind individuals represent higher-cognitive information, such as the meanings of words and numerical quantity. Next we test the prediction that visual cortices are functionally relevant to higher-cognitive behavior using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Aim 3 examines the time-course of visual cortex plasticity during the lifespan. By working with individuals who lost their sight at different ages we test the hypothesis that cortex assumes higher-cognitive functions only during a sensitive period of development. This work is highly relevant to understanding the pathophysiology of visual impairments and uncovering the timing and mechanisms by which blindness affects the human brain. The insights about plasticity to be gained from the proposed project have far-reaching relevance for optimizing cortical function in the context of neurological and cognitive disabilities.

项目成果

期刊论文数量(0)
专著数量(0)
科研奖励数量(0)
会议论文数量(0)
专利数量(0)

数据更新时间:{{ journalArticles.updateTime }}

{{ item.title }}
{{ item.translation_title }}
  • DOI:
    {{ item.doi }}
  • 发表时间:
    {{ item.publish_year }}
  • 期刊:
  • 影响因子:
    {{ item.factor }}
  • 作者:
    {{ item.authors }}
  • 通讯作者:
    {{ item.author }}

数据更新时间:{{ journalArticles.updateTime }}

{{ item.title }}
  • 作者:
    {{ item.author }}

数据更新时间:{{ monograph.updateTime }}

{{ item.title }}
  • 作者:
    {{ item.author }}

数据更新时间:{{ sciAawards.updateTime }}

{{ item.title }}
  • 作者:
    {{ item.author }}

数据更新时间:{{ conferencePapers.updateTime }}

{{ item.title }}
  • 作者:
    {{ item.author }}

数据更新时间:{{ patent.updateTime }}

Marina Bedny其他文献

Marina Bedny的其他文献

{{ item.title }}
{{ item.translation_title }}
  • DOI:
    {{ item.doi }}
  • 发表时间:
    {{ item.publish_year }}
  • 期刊:
  • 影响因子:
    {{ item.factor }}
  • 作者:
    {{ item.authors }}
  • 通讯作者:
    {{ item.author }}

{{ truncateString('Marina Bedny', 18)}}的其他基金

Neural basis of Braille literacy in blind adults and children
盲人成人和儿童盲文识字的神经基础
  • 批准号:
    10574513
  • 财政年份:
    2022
  • 资助金额:
    $ 45.21万
  • 项目类别:
Neural basis of Braille literacy in blind adults and children
盲人成人和儿童盲文识字的神经基础
  • 批准号:
    10342354
  • 财政年份:
    2022
  • 资助金额:
    $ 45.21万
  • 项目类别:
Neural basis of Braille literacy in blind adults and children
盲人成人和儿童盲文识字的神经基础
  • 批准号:
    10748068
  • 财政年份:
    2022
  • 资助金额:
    $ 45.21万
  • 项目类别:
Visual cortex plasticity in blindness: a window into flexibility of human cortex
失明时的视觉皮层可塑性:了解人类皮层灵活性的窗口
  • 批准号:
    10203995
  • 财政年份:
    2017
  • 资助金额:
    $ 45.21万
  • 项目类别:

相似海外基金

Co-designing a lifestyle, stop-vaping intervention for ex-smoking, adult vapers (CLOVER study)
为戒烟的成年电子烟使用者共同设计生活方式、戒烟干预措施(CLOVER 研究)
  • 批准号:
    MR/Z503605/1
  • 财政年份:
    2024
  • 资助金额:
    $ 45.21万
  • 项目类别:
    Research Grant
Early Life Antecedents Predicting Adult Daily Affective Reactivity to Stress
早期生活经历预测成人对压力的日常情感反应
  • 批准号:
    2336167
  • 财政年份:
    2024
  • 资助金额:
    $ 45.21万
  • 项目类别:
    Standard Grant
RAPID: Affective Mechanisms of Adjustment in Diverse Emerging Adult Student Communities Before, During, and Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic
RAPID:COVID-19 大流行之前、期间和之后不同新兴成人学生社区的情感调整机制
  • 批准号:
    2402691
  • 财政年份:
    2024
  • 资助金额:
    $ 45.21万
  • 项目类别:
    Standard Grant
Migrant Youth and the Sociolegal Construction of Child and Adult Categories
流动青年与儿童和成人类别的社会法律建构
  • 批准号:
    2341428
  • 财政年份:
    2024
  • 资助金额:
    $ 45.21万
  • 项目类别:
    Standard Grant
Elucidation of Adult Newt Cells Regulating the ZRS enhancer during Limb Regeneration
阐明成体蝾螈细胞在肢体再生过程中调节 ZRS 增强子
  • 批准号:
    24K12150
  • 财政年份:
    2024
  • 资助金额:
    $ 45.21万
  • 项目类别:
    Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Understanding how platelets mediate new neuron formation in the adult brain
了解血小板如何介导成人大脑中新神经元的形成
  • 批准号:
    DE240100561
  • 财政年份:
    2024
  • 资助金额:
    $ 45.21万
  • 项目类别:
    Discovery Early Career Researcher Award
Laboratory testing and development of a new adult ankle splint
新型成人踝关节夹板的实验室测试和开发
  • 批准号:
    10065645
  • 财政年份:
    2023
  • 资助金额:
    $ 45.21万
  • 项目类别:
    Collaborative R&D
Usefulness of a question prompt sheet for onco-fertility in adolescent and young adult patients under 25 years old.
问题提示表对于 25 岁以下青少年和年轻成年患者的肿瘤生育力的有用性。
  • 批准号:
    23K09542
  • 财政年份:
    2023
  • 资助金额:
    $ 45.21万
  • 项目类别:
    Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Identification of new specific molecules associated with right ventricular dysfunction in adult patients with congenital heart disease
鉴定与成年先天性心脏病患者右心室功能障碍相关的新特异性分子
  • 批准号:
    23K07552
  • 财政年份:
    2023
  • 资助金额:
    $ 45.21万
  • 项目类别:
    Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Issue identifications and model developments in transitional care for patients with adult congenital heart disease.
成人先天性心脏病患者过渡护理的问题识别和模型开发。
  • 批准号:
    23K07559
  • 财政年份:
    2023
  • 资助金额:
    $ 45.21万
  • 项目类别:
    Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
{{ showInfoDetail.title }}

作者:{{ showInfoDetail.author }}

知道了