title: State-dependent modulation of functional connectivity in early blind individuals.
abstract: Resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) studies have provided strong evidences that visual deprivation influences the brain's functional architecture. In particular, reduced RSFC coupling between occipital (visual) and temporal (auditory) regions has been reliably observed in early blind individuals (EB) at rest. In contrast, task-dependent activation studies have repeatedly demonstrated enhanced co-activation and connectivity of occipital and temporal regions during auditory processing in EB. To investigate this apparent discrepancy, the functional coupling between temporal and occipital networks at rest was directly compared to that of an auditory task in both EB and sighted controls (SC). Functional brain clusters shared across groups and cognitive states (rest and auditory task) were defined. In EBs, we observed higher occipito-temporal correlations in activity during the task than at rest. The reverse pattern was observed in SC. We also observed higher temporal variability of occipito-temporal RSFC in EB suggesting that occipital regions in this population may play the role of a multiple demand system. Our study reveals how the connectivity profile of sighted and early blind people is differentially influenced by their cognitive state, bridging the gap between previous task-dependent and RSFC studies. Our results also highlight how inferring group-differences in functional brain architecture solely based on resting-state acquisition has to be considered with caution.
authors.affiliation: Departement of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Centre de Recherche en Neuropsychologie et Cognition, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada. Electronic address: maxime.pelland@umontreal.ca.
authors.forename: Maxime
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pelland
authors.affiliation: Functional Neuroimaging Unit, Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Orban
authors.affiliation: Functional Neuroimaging Unit, Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Department of Computer Science and Operations Research, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dansereau
authors.affiliation: Departement of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Centre de Recherche en Neuropsychologie et Cognition, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lepore
authors.affiliation: Functional Neuroimaging Unit, Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Department of Computer Science and Operations Research, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bellec
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychology (IPSY) and Institute of Neuroscience (IoNS), Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium; CIMeC - Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, via delle Regole 101, Mattarello, TN, Italy. Electronic address: olivier.collignon@unitn.it.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Collignon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001303:Auditory Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D001766:Blindness / Q000503:physiopathology*; D063132:Connectome / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012146:Rest; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Blindness; Cross-modal plasticity; Functional connectivity; Modulation; Resting-state fMRI