title: Relationship Between Cortical Thickness and Functional Activation in the Early Blind.
abstract: Early blindness results in both structural and functional changes of the brain. However, these changes have rarely been studied in relation to each other. We measured alterations in cortical thickness (CT) caused by early visual deprivation and their relationship with cortical activity. Structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed in 12 early blind (EB) humans and 12 sighted controls (SC). Experimental conditions included one-back tasks for auditory localization and pitch identification, and a simple sound-detection task. Structural and functional data were analyzed in a whole-brain approach and within anatomically defined regions of interest in sensory areas of the spared (auditory) and deprived (visual) modalities. Functional activation during sound-localization or pitch-identification tasks correlated negatively with CT in occipital areas of EB (calcarine sulcus, lingual gyrus, superior and middle occipital gyri, and cuneus) and in nonprimary auditory areas of SC. These results suggest a link between CT and activation and demonstrate that the relationship between cortical structure and function may depend on early sensory experience, probably via selective pruning of exuberant connections. Activity-dependent effects of early sensory deprivation and long-term practice are superimposed on normal maturation and aging. Together these processes shape the relationship between brain structure and function over the lifespan.
authors: Laboratory of Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition, Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC 20057, USA Neuroscience Unit, Institute of Biomedicine/Physiology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki 00014, Finland.
authors: Irina
authors: I
authors: Anurova
authors: Laboratory of Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition, Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC 20057, USA Institute of Neuroscience, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels B-1200, Belgium.
authors: Laurent A
authors: LA
authors: Renier
authors: Institute of Neuroscience, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels B-1200, Belgium.
authors: Anne G
authors: AG
authors: De Volder
authors: Neuroscience Unit, Institute of Biomedicine/Physiology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki 00014, Finland Brain Research Unit, O. V. Lounasmaa Laboratory, Aalto University School of Science, Aalto 00076, Finland.
authors: Synnöve
authors: S
authors: Carlson
authors: Laboratory of Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition, Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC 20057, USA.
authors: Josef P
authors: JP
authors: Rauschecker
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D001766:Blindness / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009929:Organ Size; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen
keywords: blindness; cortical thickness; cross-modal plasticity; magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); pruning