Prior Visual Experience Modulates Learning of Sound Localization Among Blind Individuals.
Cross-modal learning requires the use of information from different sensory modalities. This study investigated how the prior visual experience of late blind individuals could modulate neural processes associated with learning of sound localization. Learning was realized by standardized training on sound localization processing, and experience was investigated by comparing brain activations elicited from a sound localization task in individuals with (late blind, LB) and without (early blind, EB) prior visual experience. After the training, EB showed decreased activation in the precuneus, which was functionally connected to a limbic-multisensory network. In contrast, LB showed the increased activation of the precuneus. A subgroup of LB participants who demonstrated higher visuospatial working memory capabilities (LB-HVM) exhibited an enhanced precuneus-lingual gyrus network. This differential connectivity suggests that visuospatial working memory due to the prior visual experience gained via LB-HVM enhanced learning of sound localization. Active visuospatial navigation processes could have occurred in LB-HVM compared to the retrieval of previously bound information from long-term memory for EB. The precuneus appears to play a crucial role in learning of sound localization, disregarding prior visual experience. Prior visual experience, however, could enhance cross-modal learning by extending binding to the integration of unprocessed information, mediated by the cognitive functions that these experiences develop.
Psychology Department, School of Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.|Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Qian
Q
Tao
Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, Hong Kong. Chetwyn.Chan@polyu.edu.hk.
Chetwyn C H
CCH
Chan
National Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
Yue-Jia
YJ
Luo
China Rehabilitation Research Center, Beijing, China.
Jian-Jun
JJ
Li
Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Kin-Hung
KH
Ting
Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Brain Imaging, Arts, & Sciences, Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Ohio, OH, 43210, USA.
Zhong-Lin
ZL
Lu
The Gabrieli Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
Susan
S
Whitfield-Gabrieli
National Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
Jun
J
Wang
Laboratory of Neuropsychology, Department of Psychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong. tmclee@hku.hk.|Laboratory of Cognitive Affective Neuroscience, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong. tmclee@hku.hk.|State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong. tmclee@hku.hk.
Tatia M C
TMC
Lee
D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D001245:Association Learning; D001766:Blindness; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008032:Limbic System / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D013017:Sound Localization / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
Blindness; Experience modulation; Functional connectivity; Sound localization; fMRI