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Project

Looking at the crossmodal reorganization following congenital blindness to shed light on the categorical representation in the ventral occipito-temporal cortex.

To what extent does the categorical organization of the ventral occipito-temporal cortex (VOTC) depend on vision? We will use the unique model of congenital blindness (CB) combined with cutting-edge multivariate fMRI techniques to find the answer.VOTC is known to follow a similar categorical organization for non-visual stimuli in CB as the one found for visual input in sighted controls (SC). Which level of this representation is preserved in CB? Are low level properties of non-visual inputs represented in VOTC of CB? First, we will look if the organization of VOTC in CB is better explained by the animacy or the physical properties of sounds and/or tactile stimuli. Second, we will test if the eccentricity bias (i.e. preferential response to central/peripheral input) reported in VOTC of SC for vision, persists even for non-visual stimuli in CB.In the second part of the project we will look for possible subject-specific profiles of reorganization in CB. We will investigate if the higher inter-individual functional variability reported in CB is linked to enhanced variability in the microstructure and structural connectivity of VOTC or/and to a subject-specific enhanced recruitment of VOTC for touch versus sounds. Addressing these issues will increase our fundamental knowledge on the mechanisms driving the categorical development of VOTC, shedding new light on the old debate on the way nature and nurture interact together to shape the functional architecture of our brain.
Date:1 Oct 2021 →  15 Jun 2022
Keywords:ventral visual pathway, congenital blindness, fMRI
Disciplines:Cognitive processes, Sensory processes and perception