Cited by 125Tactile and Sensory InteractionsMultisensory perception and integrationVisual perception and processing mechanisms

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Cortical activity during tactile exploration of objects in blind and sighted humans

Amedi, Amir, Raz, Noa, Azulay, Haim, Malach, Rafael, Zohary, Ehud·2010·Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience

DOI 10.3233/rnn-2010-0503

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Abstract

PURPOSE: Recent studies show evidence of multisensory representation in the functionally normal visual cortex, but this idea remains controversial. Occipital cortex activation is often claimed to be a reflection of mental visual imagery processes triggered by other modalities. However, if the occipital cortex is genuinely active during touch, this might be the basis for the massive cross-modal plasticity observed in the congenitally blind. METHODS: To address these issues, we used fMRI to compare patterns of activation evoked by a tactile object recognition (TOR) task (right or left hand) in 8 sighted and 8 congenitally blind subjects, with several other control tasks. RESULTS: TOR robustly activated object selective regions in the lateral occipital complex (LOC/LOtv) in the blind (similar to the patterns of activation found in the sighted), indicating that object identification per se (i.e. in the absence of visual imagery) is sufficient to evoke responses in the LOC/LOtv. Importantly, there was negligible occipital activation for hand movements (imitating object palpations) in the occipital cortex, in both groups. Moreover, in both groups, TOR activation in the LOC/LOtv was bilateral, regardless of the palpating hand (similar to the lack of strong visual field preference in the LOC/LOtv for viewed objects). Finally, the most prominent enhancement in TOR activation in the congenitally blind (compared to their sighted peers) was found in the posterior occipital cortex. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that visual imagery is not an obligatory condition for object activation in visual cortex. It also demonstrates the massive plasticity in visual cortex of the blind for tactile object recognition that involves both the ventral and dorsal occipital areas, probably to support the high demand for this function in the blind.

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“This evidence comes from observations that both congenitally blind and sighted individuals activate the LO cortex in response to sounds, but only if these individuals learn to extract geometrical shapes from those sounds such as when using a visual-to-auditory SSD or when using touch to recognize objects [67,78].”
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Authors: Amedi, A., Raz, N., Azulay, H., Malach, R., & Zohary, E.
Affiliations: Hebrew University of Jerusalem (IL)
Weizmann Institute of Science (IL)
Corresponding author: Amedi, Amir
ORCID: Amedi, Amir
Malach, Rafael
Zohary, Ehud
Venue: Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Published: 2010-04
Volume: 28
Issue: 2
Pages: 143-156
ISSN: 0922-6028 (ISSN-L)
1878-3627
DOI: 10.3233/rnn-2010-0503
OpenAlex: W2159773361
Cited by: 125
References: 48
Citations by year: 2026: 3 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 12 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 9
FWCI: 7.54
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Licence: journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations: Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
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: tactile object recognition, congenital blindness, cross-modal plasticity, lateral occipital complex, visual cortex, multisensory representation, visual imagery, bilateral activation
MeSH terms: Adult, Afferent Pathways, Analysis of Variance, Blindness, Brain Mapping, Cerebral Cortex, Female, Hand, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Functional Laterality, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Oxygen, Physical Stimulation, Reaction Time, Touch, Recognition, Psychology, Young Adult

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Cortical activity during tactile exploration of objects in blind and sighted humans

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