title: Functional and Structural Neuroplasticity Induced by Short-Term Tactile Training Based on Braille Reading.
abstract: Neuroplastic changes induced by sensory learning have been recognized within the cortices of specific modalities as well as within higher ordered multimodal areas. The interplay between these areas is not fully understood, particularly in the case of somatosensory learning. Here we examined functional and structural changes induced by short-term tactile training based of Braille reading, a task that requires both significant tactile expertise and mapping of tactile input onto multimodal representations. Subjects with normal vision were trained for 3 weeks to read Braille exclusively by touch and scanned before and after training, while performing a same-different discrimination task on Braille characters and meaningless characters. Functional and diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging sequences were used to assess resulting changes. The strongest training-induced effect was found in the primary somatosensory cortex (SI), where we observed bilateral augmentation in activity accompanied by an increase in fractional anisotropy (FA) within the contralateral SI. Increases of white matter fractional anisotropy were also observed in the secondary somatosensory area (SII) and the thalamus. Outside of somatosensory system, changes in both structure and function were found in i.e., the fusiform gyrus, the medial frontal gyri and the inferior parietal lobule. Our results provide evidence for functional remodeling of the somatosensory pathway and higher ordered multimodal brain areas occurring as a result of short-lasting tactile learning, and add to them a novel picture of extensive white matter plasticity.
authors: Laboratory of Neuroplasticity, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of SciencesWarsaw, Poland; CNS Lab, Nalecz Institute of Biocybernetics and Biomedical Engineering, Polish Academy of SciencesWarsaw, Poland.
authors: Weronika
authors: W
authors: Debowska
authors: Bioimaging Research Center, World Hearing Center, The Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing Warsaw, Poland.
authors: Tomasz
authors: T
authors: Wolak
authors: Laboratory of Psychophysiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology Warsaw, Poland.
authors: Anna
authors: A
authors: Nowicka
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Social Sciences and Humanities Warsaw, Poland.
authors: Anna
authors: A
authors: Kozak
authors: Department of Psychology, Jagiellonian University Cracow, Poland.
authors: Marcin
authors: M
authors: Szwed
authors: Laboratory of Neuroplasticity, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of SciencesWarsaw, Poland; Department of Psychology, University of Social Sciences and HumanitiesWarsaw, Poland.
authors: Malgorzata
authors: M
authors: Kossut
keywords: Braille; fractional anisotropy; neuroplasticity; primary somatosensory cortex; secondary somatosensory cortex; sighted