Unit for Visually Impaired People (U-VIP), Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via E. Melen, 83 - 16152, Genova, Italy; Università degli studi di Genova, Department of Informatics, Bioengineering, Robotics and Systems Engineering, Via all'Opera Pia, 13 - 16145, Genova, Italy.
Unit for Visually Impaired People (U-VIP), Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via E. Melen, 83 - 16152, Genova, Italy.
Neuroimage. 2019 May 1;191:140-149. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.01.073. Epub 2019 Jan 30.
Early visual deprivation impacts negatively on spatial bisection abilities. Recently, an early (50-90 ms) ERP response, selective for sound position in space, has been observed in the visual cortex of sighted individuals during the spatial but not the temporal bisection task. Here, we clarify the role of vision on spatial bisection abilities and neural correlates by studying late blind individuals. Results highlight that a shorter period of blindness is linked to a stronger contralateral activation in the visual cortex and a better performance during the spatial bisection task. Contrarily, not lateralized visual activation and lower performance are observed in individuals with a longer period of blindness. To conclude, the amount of time spent without vision may gradually impact on neural circuits underlying the construction of spatial representations in late blind participants. These findings suggest a key relationship between visual deprivation and auditory spatial abilities in humans.
早期的视觉剥夺会对空间二分能力产生负面影响。最近，在有视力的个体的视觉皮层中观察到了一种早期（50-90ms）的 ERP 反应，该反应对空间中的声音位置具有选择性，但在时空二分任务中则没有。在这里，我们通过研究晚期失明者来阐明视觉对空间二分能力和神经相关性的作用。结果表明，失明时间较短与视觉皮层中更强的对侧激活以及在空间二分任务中的更好表现有关。相反，在失明时间较长的个体中观察到的是没有侧化的视觉激活和较低的表现。总之，没有视力的时间长短可能会逐渐影响晚期失明者构建空间表象的神经回路。这些发现表明，在人类中，视觉剥夺和听觉空间能力之间存在关键关系。
