De Volder A G, Toyama H, Kimura Y, Kiyosawa M, Nakano H, Vanlierde A, Wanet-Defalque M C, Mishina M, Oda K, Ishiwata K, Senda M
Positron Medical Center, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Japan.
Neuroimage. 2001 Jul;14(1 Pt 1):129-39. doi: 10.1006/nimg.2001.0782.
Previous neuroimaging studies identified a large network of cortical areas involved in visual imagery in the human brain, which includes occipitotemporal and visual associative areas. Here we test whether the same processes can be elicited by tactile and auditory experiences in subjects who became blind early in life. Using positron emission tomography, regional cerebral blood flow was assessed in six right-handed early blind and six age-matched control volunteers during three conditions: resting state, passive listening to noise sounds, and mental imagery task (imagery of object shape) triggered by the sound of familiar objects. Activation foci were found in occipitotemporal and visual association areas, particularly in the left fusiform gyrus (Brodmann areas 19-37), during mental imagery of shape by both groups. Since shape imagery by early blind subjects does involve similar visual structures as controls at an adult age, it indicates their developmental crossmodal reorganization to allow perceptual representation in the absence of vision.
先前的神经影像学研究确定了人类大脑中参与视觉意象的一大片皮质区域网络，其中包括枕颞叶和视觉联合区。在此，我们测试在早年失明的受试者中，触觉和听觉体验是否能引发相同的过程。利用正电子发射断层扫描技术，在六种情况下评估了六名右利手早期失明者和六名年龄匹配的对照志愿者的局部脑血流量：静息状态、被动听噪音以及由熟悉物体的声音触发的心理意象任务（物体形状的意象）。在两组进行形状心理意象时，均在枕颞叶和视觉联合区发现了激活灶，尤其是在左侧梭状回（布罗德曼区19 - 37）。由于早期失明受试者的形状意象确实涉及与成年对照组相似的视觉结构，这表明他们在发育过程中进行了跨模态重组，以便在没有视觉的情况下进行感知表征。
