Massive cortical reorganization in sighted Braille readers
File(s)
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The brain is capable of large-scale reorganization in blindness or after massive injury. Such reorganization crosses the division into separate sensory cortices (visual, somatosensory...). As its result, the visual cortex of the blind becomes active during tactile Braille reading. Although the possibility of such reorganization in the normal, adult brain has been raised, definitive evidence has been lacking. Here, we demonstrate such extensive reorganization in normal, sighted adults who learned Braille while their brain activity was investigated with fMRI and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Subjects showed enhanced activity for tactile reading in the visual cortex, including the visual word form area (VWFA) that was modulated by their Braille reading speed and strengthened resting-state connectivity between visual and somatosensory cortices. Moreover, TMS disruption of VWFA activity decreased their tactile reading accuracy. Our results indicate that large-scale reorganization is a viable mechanism recruited when learning complex skills.
Date Issued
2016-03-15
Date Acceptance
2016-01-19
Citation
eLife, 2016, 5
ISSN
2050-084X
Publisher
eLife Sciences Publications
Journal / Book Title
eLife
Volume
5
Copyright Statement
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
License URL
Subjects
fMRI
human
neuroscience
somatosensory system
visual system
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
e10762