The DOI matches its Crossref record; 48 of the 48 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Cortical activity during tactile exploration of objects in blind and sighted humans
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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The plastic human brain cortex
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Object-related activity revealed by functional magnetic resonance imaging in human occipital cortex.
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A ventral visual stream reading center independent of visual experience
Reich, L., Szwed, M., Cohen, L., & Amedi, A. (2011) · Current Biology · doi:10.1016/j.cub.2011.01.040 · Cited by 295
“Before statistical analysis, standard preprocessing procedures were performed (see [10] and the Supplemental Information available online for detailed experimental procedures).”
Self-citationMultisensory Processes: A Balancing Act across the Lifespan
Murray, M. M., Lewkowicz, D. J., Amedi, A., & Wallace, M. T. (2016) · Trends in Neurosciences · doi:10.1016/j.tins.2016.05.003 · Cited by 260
“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].”
BackgroundOrigins of the specialization for letters and numbers in ventral occipitotemporal cortex
Hannagan, T., Amedi, A., Cohen, L., Dehaene‐Lambertz, G., & Dehaene, S. (2015) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2015.05.006 · Cited by 249
Maidenbaum, S., Abboud, S., & Amedi, A. (2014) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.11.007 · Cited by 230
Neuroplasticity in adult human visual cortex
Castaldi, E., Lunghi, C., & Morrone, M. C. (2020) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.02.028 · Cited by 172
Metadata
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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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