28730All India Institute of Medical Sciences, India.
Perception. 2021 Mar;50(3):249-265. doi: 10.1177/0301006621991953. Epub 2021 Feb 16.
Involvement of visual cortex varies during tactile perception tasks in early blind (EB) and late blind (LB) human subjects. This study explored differences in sensory motor networks associated with tactile task in EB and LB subjects and between children and adolescents. A total of 40 EB subjects, 40 LB subjects, and 30 sighted controls were recruited in two subgroups: children (6-12 years) and adolescents (13-19 years). Data were acquired using a 3T MR scanner. Analyses of blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD), functional connectivity (FC), correlation, and post hoc test for multiple comparisons were carried out. Difference in BOLD activity was observed in EB and LB groups in visual cortex during tactile perception, with increased FC of visual with dorsal attention and sensory motor networks in EB. EB adolescents exhibited increased connectivity with default mode and salience networks when compared with LB. Functional results correlated with duration of training, suggestive of better performance in EB. Alteration in sensory and visual networks in EB and LB correlated with duration of tactile training. Age of onset of blindness has an effect in cross-modal reorganization of visual cortex in EB and multimodal in LB in children and adolescents.
在早期失明（EB）和晚期失明（LB）的人类受试者进行触觉感知任务时，视觉皮层的参与情况有所不同。本研究探讨了与 EB 和 LB 受试者以及儿童和青少年的触觉任务相关的感觉运动网络的差异。总共招募了 40 名 EB 受试者、40 名 LB 受试者和 30 名视力正常的对照组，分为两个亚组：儿童（6-12 岁）和青少年（13-19 岁）。使用 3T MR 扫描仪获取数据。对血氧水平依赖（BOLD）、功能连接（FC）、相关性和事后多重比较检验进行分析。在触觉感知过程中，EB 和 LB 组在视觉皮层中观察到 BOLD 活性的差异，EB 中视觉与背侧注意和感觉运动网络的 FC 增加。与 LB 相比，EB 青少年在默认模式和显着性网络中表现出更高的连通性。功能结果与训练时间相关，提示 EB 表现更好。EB 和 LB 中感觉和视觉网络的改变与触觉训练时间有关。失明年龄对 EB 中视觉皮层的跨模态重组和儿童及青少年 LB 中的多模态重组有影响。
