Effects of late visual impairment on mental representations activated by visual and tactile stimuli.
Similarly to sighted people, individuals congenitally affected by a severe visual impairment can maintain and mentally manipulate spatial information about tactile stimuli [Vecchi, T., Cattaneo, Z., Monegato, M., Pece, A., Cornoldi, C., Pietrini, P., 2006. Why Cyclops could not compete with Ulysses: monocular vision and mental images. NeuroReport 17, 723-726]. The aim of the present study was to assess whether the onset timing of a severe (but not total) sight loss may influence spatial imagery abilities based on haptic input. To this purpose, a group of late severe visually impaired people and a matched group of normally sighted participants (all blindfolded) were presented with an imagery task requiring to memorize and retrieve a number of locations presented on tactile matrices. Results indicate that a severe visual deficit occurring later in life significantly impairs spatial imagery abilities to a greater extent than in the case of congenital blindness, probably as a consequence of a modest development of specific compensatory mechanisms associated with congenital deficits.
Cattaneo
Zaira
Z
Department of Psychology, University of Pavia, P.za Botta 6, 27100 Pavia, Italy. zaira.cattaneo@unipv.it <zaira.cattaneo@unipv.it>
Vecchi
Tomaso
T
Monegato
Maura
M
Pece
Alfredo
A
Cornoldi
Cesare
C
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000502:physiology; D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D010812:Physical Stimulation; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology*; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*