title: Domain Selectivity in the Parahippocampal Gyrus Is Predicted by the Same Structural Connectivity Patterns in Blind and Sighted Individuals.
abstract: Human ventral occipital temporal cortex contains clusters of neurons that show domain-preferring responses during visual perception. Recent studies have reported that some of these clusters show surprisingly similar domain selectivity in congenitally blind participants performing nonvisual tasks. An important open question is whether these functional similarities are driven by similar innate connections in blind and sighted groups. Here we addressed this question focusing on the parahippocampal gyrus (PHG), a region that is selective for large objects and scenes. Based on the assumption that patterns of long-range connectivity shape local computation, we examined whether domain selectivity in PHG is driven by similar structural connectivity patterns in the two populations. Multiple regression models were built to predict the selectivity of PHG voxels for large human-made objects from white matter (WM) connectivity patterns in both groups. These models were then tested using independent data from participants with similar visual experience (two sighted groups) and using data from participants with different visual experience (blind and sighted groups). Strikingly, the WM-based predictions between blind and sighted groups were as successful as predictions between two independent sighted groups. That is, the functional selectivity for large objects of a PHG voxel in a blind participant could be accurately predicted by its WM pattern using the connection-to-function model built from the sighted group data, and vice versa. Regions that significantly predicted PHG selectivity were located in temporal and frontal cortices in both sighted and blind populations. These results show that the large-scale network driving domain selectivity in PHG is independent of vision.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTRecent studies have reported intriguingly similar domain selectivity in sighted and congenitally blind individuals in regions within the ventral visual cortex. To examine whether these similarities originate from similar innate connectional roots, we investigated whether the domain selectivity in one population could be predicted by the structural connectivity pattern of the other. We found that the selectivity for large objects of a PHG voxel in a blind participant could be predicted by its structural connectivity pattern using the connection-to-function model built from the sighted group data, and vice versa. These results reveal that the structural connectivity underlying domain selectivity in the PHG is independent of visual experience, providing evidence for nonvisual representations in this region.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, People's Republic of China.|Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiaoying
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Chenxi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, 38068 Rovereto, Italy, and.
authors.forename: Marius V
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4026-7303
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Peelen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, People's Republic of China.|Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Suyu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, People's Republic of China.|Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Gaolang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.affiliation: Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, 38068 Rovereto, Italy, and.|Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138.
authors.forename: Alfonso
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Caramazza
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, People's Republic of China, ybi@bnu.edu.cn.|Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yanchao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001766:Blindness / Q000503:physiopathology*; D063132:Connectome / Q000379:methods; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D020534:Parahippocampal Gyrus / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000503:physiopathology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: PPA; domain selectivity; ventral visual cortex; visual experience; white matter