Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
Trends Cogn Sci. 2017 Sep;21(9):637-648. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2017.06.003.
Cognitive neuroscience seeks to discover how cognitive functions are implemented in neural circuits. Studies of plasticity in blindness suggest that this mind-brain mapping is highly flexible during development. In blindness, 'visual' cortices take on higher-cognitive functions, including language and mathematics, becoming sensitive to the grammatical structure of spoken sentences and the difficulty of math equations. Visual cortex activity at rest becomes synchronized with higher-cognitive networks. Such repurposing is striking in light of the cognitive and evolutionary differences between vision, language, and mathematics. We propose that human cortices are cognitively pluripotent, that is, capable of assuming a wide range of cognitive functions. Specialization is driven by input during development, which is itself constrained by connectivity and experience. 'The child who methodically adds two numbers from right to left, carrying a digit when necessary, may be using the same algorithm that is implemented by the wires and transistors of the cash register in the neighborhood supermarket…' ▓▓Vision, 1982, David Marr.
认知神经科学旨在探索认知功能如何在神经回路中实现。对失明可塑性的研究表明，这种心智映射在发育过程中具有高度的灵活性。在失明中，“视觉”皮质承担了更高的认知功能，包括语言和数学，对口语句子的语法结构和数学方程的难度变得敏感。静息状态下的视觉皮层活动与更高的认知网络同步。鉴于视觉、语言和数学之间的认知和进化差异，这种重新定位引人注目。我们提出，人类皮质具有认知多能性，即能够承担广泛的认知功能。专业化是由发育过程中的输入驱动的，而输入本身又受到连接性和经验的限制。“那个孩子从右到左有条不紊地加两个数字，必要时进位，他可能正在使用与附近超市收银机的电线和晶体管相同的算法……”1982 年，大卫·马尔的《视觉》。
