Top-down influence on the visual cortex of the blind during sensory substitution
Open accessAbstract
Visual sensory substitution devices provide a non-surgical and flexible approach to vision rehabilitation in the blind. These devices convert images taken by a camera into cross-modal sensory signals that are presented as a surrogate for direct visual input. While previous work has demonstrated that the visual cortex of blind subjects is recruited during sensory substitution, the cognitive basis of this activation remains incompletely understood. To test the hypothesis that top-down input provides a significant contribution to this activation, we performed functional MRI scanning in 11 blind (7 acquired and 4 congenital) and 11 sighted subjects under two conditions: passive listening of image-encoded soundscapes before sensory substitution training and active interpretation of the same auditory sensory substitution signals after a 10-minute training session. We found that the modulation of visual cortex activity due to active interpretation was significantly stronger in the blind over sighted subjects. In addition, congenitally blind subjects showed stronger task-induced modulation in the visual cortex than acquired blind subjects. In a parallel experiment, we scanned 18 blind (11 acquired and 7 congenital) and 18 sighted subjects at rest to investigate alterations in functional connectivity due to visual deprivation. The results demonstrated that visual cortex connectivity of the blind shifted away from sensory networks and toward known areas of top-down input. Taken together, our data support the model of the brain, including the visual system, as a highly flexible task-based and not sensory-based machine.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
The human brain is intrinsically organized into dynamic, anticorrelated functional networks
Fox, M. D., Snyder, A. Z., Vincent, J. L., Corbetta, M., Van Essen, D. C., & Raichle, M. E. (2005) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0504136102 · Cited by 8,553 · see citing works
Unbiased average age-appropriate atlases for pediatric studies
Fonov, V., Evans, A. C., Botteron, K., Almli, C. R., McKinstry, R. C., & Collins, D. L. (2011) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.07.033 · Cited by 2,290 · see citing works
Top-down influences on visual processing
Gilbert, C. D., & Li, W. (2013) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn3476 · Cited by 1,224 · see citing works
van den Heuvel, M. P., Mandl, R. C. W., Kahn, R. S., & Hulshoff Pol, H. E. (2009) · Human Brain Mapping · doi:10.1002/hbm.20737 · Cited by 987 · see citing works
An experimental system for auditory image representations
Meijer, P. B. L. (1992) · IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering · doi:10.1109/10.121642 · Cited by 900 · see citing works
Chapter 27 The metamodal organization of the brain
Pascual-Leone, A., & Hamilton, R. (2001) · Progress in Brain Research · doi:10.1016/s0079-6123(01)34028-1 · Cited by 540 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Pascual-Leone and Hamilton put forth a metamodal model of the brain in which neural networks in the visual cortex may be best suited to process visual input, but they receive input from all sensory modalities and can unmask these inputs to optimize behavior (Pascual-Leone and Hamilton, 2001).”
BackgroundA Positron Emission Tomographic Study of Auditory Localization in the Congenitally Blind
Weeks, R., Horwitz, B., Aziz‐Sultan, M. A., Tian, B., Wessinger, C. M., Cohen, L. G., Hallett, M., & Rauschecker, J. P. (2000) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.20-07-02664.2000 · Cited by 486 · see citing works
Shape conveyed by visual-to-auditory sensory substitution activates the lateral occipital complex
Amedi, A., Stern, W. M., Camprodon, J. A., Bermpohl, F., Merabet, L., Rotman, S., Hemond, C., Meijer, P., & Pascual-Leone, A. (2007) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nn1912 · Cited by 451 · see citing works
Non-Stationarity in the “Resting Brain’s” Modular Architecture
Jones, D. T., Vemuri, P., Murphy, M. C., Gunter, J. L., Senjem, M. L., Machulda, M. M., Przybelski, S. A., Gregg, B. E., Kantarci, K., Knopman, D. S., et al. (2012) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0039731 · Cited by 427 · see citing works
Self-citationDeactivation of Sensory-Specific Cortex by Cross-Modal Stimuli
Laurienti, P. J., Burdette, J. H., Wallace, M. T., Yen, Y., Field, A. S., & Stein, B. E. (2002) · Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/089892902317361930 · Cited by 366 · see citing works
Ptito, M. (2005) · Brain · doi:10.1093/brain/awh380 · Cited by 310 · see citing works
Striem-Amit, E., Cohen, L., Dehaene, S., & Amedi, A. (2012) · Neuron · doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2012.08.026 · Cited by 293 · see citing works
Compensatory plasticity and cross-modal reorganization following early visual deprivation
Kupers, R., & Ptito, M. (2014) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.08.001 · Cited by 293 · see citing works
Whole brain functional connectivity in the early blind
Liu, Y., Yu, C., Liang, M., Li, J., Tian, L., Zhou, Y., Qin, W., Li, K., & Jiang, T. (2007) · Brain · doi:10.1093/brain/awm121 · Cited by 273 · see citing works
Collignon, O., Dormal, G., Albouy, G., Vandewalle, G., Voss, P., Phillips, C. L. M., & Leporé, F. (2013) · Brain · doi:10.1093/brain/awt176 · Cited by 218 · see citing works
Kawashima, R., O’Sullivan, B., & Roland, P. E. (1995) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.92.13.5969 · Cited by 214 · see citing works
Tactile Sensory Substitution Studies
Bach‐y‐Rita, P. (2004) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1196/annals.1305.006 · Cited by 214 · see citing works
Striem-Amit, E., & Amedi, A. (2014) · Current Biology · doi:10.1016/j.cub.2014.02.010 · Cited by 183 · see citing works
The large-Scale Organization of “Visual” Streams Emerges Without Visual Experience
Striem-Amit, E., Dakwar-Kawar, O., Reich, L., & Amedi, A. (2011) · Cerebral Cortex · doi:10.1093/cercor/bhr253 · Cited by 180 · see citing works
Visual cortex activation in blind humans during sound discrimination
Kujala, T., Huotilainen, M., Sinkkonen, J., Ahonen, A. I., Alho, K., Hämäläinen, M., Ilmoniemi, R. J., Kajola, M., Knuutila, J., Lavikainen, J., et al. (1995) · Neuroscience Letters · doi:10.1016/0304-3940(94)11135-6 · Cited by 177 · see citing works
Collignon, O., Lassonde, M. C., Leporé, F., Bastien, D., & Veraart, C. (2006) · Cerebral Cortex · doi:10.1093/cercor/bhj162 · Cited by 172 · see citing works
Ricciardi, E., Bonino, D., Pellegrini, S., & Pietrini, P. (2014) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.10.006 · Cited by 154 · see citing works
Sensitive Period for a Multimodal Response in Human Visual Motion Area MT/MST
Bedny, M., Konkle, T., Pelphrey, K. A., Saxe, R. R., & Pascual‐Leone, Á. (2010) · Current Biology · doi:10.1016/j.cub.2010.09.044 · Cited by 152 · see citing works
Arno, P., De Volder, A. G., Vanlierde, A., Wanet-Defalque, M.-C., Streel, E., Robert, A., Sanabria-Bohórquez, S., & Veraart, C. (2001) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1006/nimg.2000.0731 · Cited by 148 · see citing works
RENIER, L., COLLIGNON, O., POIRIER, C., TRANDUY, D., VANLIERDE, A., BOL, A., VERAART, C., & DEVOLDER, A. (2005) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.01.047 · Cited by 128 · see citing works
Changes in occipital cortex activity in early blind humans using a sensory substitution device
De Volder, A. G., Catalan-Ahumada, M., Robert, A., Bol, A., Labar, D., Coppens, A., Michel, C., & Veraart, C. (1999) · Brain Research · doi:10.1016/s0006-8993(99)01275-5 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
Functional Connectivity Density in Congenitally and Late Blind Subjects
Qin, W., Xuan, Y., Liu, Y., Jiang, T., & Yu, C. (2014) · Cerebral Cortex · doi:10.1093/cercor/bhu051 · Cited by 105 · see citing works
Sensitive and critical periods in visual sensory deprivation
Voss, P. (2013) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00664 · Cited by 97 · see citing works
The brain as a flexible task machine
Reich, L., Maidenbaum, S., & Amedi, A. (2011) · Current Opinion in Neurology · doi:10.1097/wco.0b013e32834ed723 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Functional recruitment of visual cortex for sound encoded object identification in the blind
Merabet, L. B., Battelli, L., Obretenova, S. N., Maguire, S., Meijer, P., & Pascual‐Leone, Á. (2009) · Neuroreport · doi:10.1097/wnr.0b013e32832104dc · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Early Auditory Processing in Area V5/MT+ of the Congenitally Blind Brain
Watkins, K. E., Shakespeare, T. J., O'Donoghue, M. C., Alexander, I. H., Ragge, N., Cowey, A., & Bridge, H. (2013) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.2546-13.2013 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Nau, A. C., Bach, M., & Fisher, C. (2013) · Translational Vision Science & Technology · doi:10.1167/tvst.2.3.1 · Cited by 54 · see citing works
Self-citationClosing the mind's eye: deactivation of visual cortex related to auditory task difficulty
Hairston, W. D., Hodges, D. A., Casanova, R., Hayasaka, S., Kraft, R., Maldjian, J. A., & Burdette, J. H. (2008) · Neuroreport · doi:10.1097/wnr.0b013e3282f42509 · Cited by 54 · see citing works
Acquisition of Visual Perception in Blind Adults Using the BrainPort Artificial Vision Device
Nau, A. C., Pintar, C., Arnoldussen, A., & Fisher, C. (2014) · American Journal of Occupational Therapy · doi:10.5014/ajot.2015.011809 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Self-citationCortical hierarchy turned on its head
Büchel, C. (2003) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nn0703-657 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Lee, V., Nau, A. C., Laymon, C. M., Chan, K. C., Rosario, B. L., & Fisher, C. (2014) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnhum.2014.00291 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Self-citationNau, A. C., Pintar, C., Fisher, C., Jeong, J., & Jeong, K. (2014) · Journal of Visualized Experiments · doi:10.3791/51205 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Self-citationHertz, U., & Amedi, A. (2014) · Cerebral Cortex · doi:10.1093/cercor/bhu010 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Nau, A. C., Pintar, C., Fisher, C., et al. (2014) · Journal of Visualized Experiments · doi:10.3791/51205-v · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Designing sensory-substitution devices: Principles, pitfalls and potential1
Kristjánsson, Á., Moldoveanu, A., Jóhannesson, Ó. I., Balan, O., Spagnol, S., Valgeirsdóttir, V. V., & Unnthorsson, R. (2016) · Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience · doi:10.3233/rnn-160647 · Cited by 116 · see citing works
“Importantly, active interaction with auditory sensory substitution stimuli seems to cause more neural activity in the visual cortex than passive processing (Murphy et al., 2016).”
BackgroundThe role of visual deprivation and experience on the performance of sensory substitution devices
Stronks, H. C., Nau, A. C., Ibbotson, M. R., & Barnes, N. (2015) · Brain Research · doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2015.06.033 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
SoundSight: a mobile sensory substitution device that sonifies colour, distance, and temperature
Hamilton-Fletcher, G., Alvarez, J., Obrist, M., & Ward, J. (2022) · Journal on Multimodal User Interfaces · doi:10.1007/s12193-021-00376-w · Cited by 28 · see citing works
- Authors
- Murphy, M. C., Nau, A. C., Fisher, C., Kim, S.-G., Schuman, J. S., & Chan, K. C.
- Affiliations
- University of Pittsburgh (US)
- Corresponding author
- Chan, Kevin C.
- Venue
- NeuroImage
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2016-01
- Volume
- 125
- Pages
- 932-940
- ISSN
- 1053-8119 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5536833
- OpenAlex
- W2201222263
- Cited by
- 82
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 38 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 3
- FWCI
- 3.81
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
- www.elsevier.com/legal/tdmrep-license (tdm)
- www.elsevier.com/open-access/userlicense/1.0/ (am, 324 d)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-017 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-037 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-012 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-029 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-004 (stm-asf)
- Locations
- NeuroImage (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- Research to Prevent Blindness
- Université Pierre et Marie Curie
- Alcon Research Institute
- University of Pittsburgh
- University of Texas at Arlington
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Tactile and Sensory Interactions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Multisensory perception and integration
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
- Keywords
- sensory substitution, visual cortex, top-down modulation, blindness, visual rehabilitation, congenital blindness, acquired blindness, auditory imagery, functional connectivity, visual deprivation, cross-modal plasticity, neuroplasticity
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Blindness, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Visual Cortex, Visual Pathways, Visual Perception
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
