title: Audiovisual Association Learning in the Absence of Primary Visual Cortex.
abstract: Learning audiovisual associations is mediated by the primary cortical areas; however, recent animal studies suggest that such learning can take place even in the absence of the primary visual cortex. Other studies have demonstrated the involvement of extra-geniculate pathways and especially the superior colliculus (SC) in audiovisual association learning. Here, we investigated such learning in a rare human patient with complete loss of the bilateral striate cortex. We carried out an implicit audiovisual association learning task with two different colors of red and purple (the latter color known to minimally activate the extra-genicular pathway). Interestingly, the patient learned the association between an auditory cue and a visual stimulus only when the unseen visual stimulus was red, but not when it was purple. The current study presents the first evidence showing the possibility of audiovisual association learning in humans with lesioned striate cortex. Furthermore, in line with animal studies, it supports an important role for the SC in audiovisual associative learning.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University Maastricht, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Mehrdad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Seirafi
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht UniversityMaastricht, Netherlands; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud UniversityNijmegen, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: De Weerd
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Geneva University Hospital Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Alan J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Pegna
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University Maastricht, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Beatrice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: de Gelder
keywords: audiovisual learning; blindsight; superior colliculus