Laboratory of Clinical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
Curr Opin Neurol. 2011 Aug;24(4):357-63. doi: 10.1097/WCO.0b013e328348bdbf.
In this review, we discuss findings from some recent brain imaging studies that shed new light on our understanding of the role of visual experience on the development of the brain morphological and functional architecture in humans. To what extent is vision truly necessary to 'see' the world around us?
Congenitally blind and sighted individuals present analogous cognitive and social performances. Findings from structural and functional brain studies in both sighted and congenitally blind individuals have shown the existence of supramodal brain regions able to process external information regardless of the sensory modality through which such an information has been acquired. This more abstract nature of functional cortical organization may enable congenitally blind individuals to acquire knowledge, form mental representations of and interact effectively with an external world that they have never seen.
Altogether, findings from both behavioural and imaging studies indicate that the brain functional organization is to a large extent independent from visual experience and able to process information in a supramodal fashion. The study of the blind brain is a very powerful approach to understanding not only the cross-modal plastic, adaptative modifications that occur in the 'visual' regions but primarily the functional architecture of the human brain itself.
目的综述：在这篇综述中，我们讨论了一些最近的脑成像研究结果，这些结果为我们理解视觉经验在人类大脑形态和功能结构发育中的作用提供了新的认识。在多大程度上，视觉真的是“看到”我们周围世界所必需的？
最新发现：先天性失明和有视力的个体表现出类似的认知和社会表现。在有视力和先天性失明个体的结构和功能脑研究中发现，存在超感觉脑区，能够处理外部信息，而不管这些信息是通过哪种感觉模态获得的。这种功能皮质组织的更抽象性质可能使先天性失明个体能够获得知识，形成对外界的心理表象，并有效地与之互动，而他们从未见过这些外界。
总结：总的来说，行为和成像研究的结果表明，大脑的功能组织在很大程度上独立于视觉经验，并能够以超感觉的方式处理信息。研究盲人的大脑是一种非常有效的方法，可以了解不仅是“视觉”区域发生的跨感觉可塑性、适应性改变，而且主要是人类大脑本身的功能结构。
