title: Thick visual cortex in the early blind.
abstract: We investigated the key neurodevelopmental factors that determine cortical thickness, namely synaptogenesis and regression, by analyzing the thickness of the visual cortex in humans with early- and late-onset blindness. The bilateral visual cortices of the early blind were significantly thicker than those of the late blind and the sighted controls, but the latter two groups did not differ significantly. This suggests reduced "pruning" of synapses in the visual cortex, which may be due to a lack of visual experience during a critical developmental period. These findings support the hypothesis that sensory experience is necessary for an appropriate regression and remodeling of neuronal processes and that synaptic regression might be a major determinant of macroscopic anatomical features like cortical thickness.
authors.affiliation: LIAMA Center for Computational Medicine, National Laboratory of Pattern Recognition, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
authors.forename: Jiefeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Wanlin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Kuncheng
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Chunshui
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Tianzi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D017668:Age of Onset; D001766:Blindness / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D049229:Dendritic Spines / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D017729:Presynaptic Terminals / Q000473:pathology; D012683:Sensory Deprivation / Q000502:physiology*; D013569:Synapses / Q000473:pathology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000473:pathology*; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development / Q000473:pathology; D055815:Young Adult