Working memory training integrates visual cortex into beta-band networks in congenitally blind individuals
Johanna M Rimmele1, Helene Gudi-Mindermann2, Guido Nolte3
1Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistraße 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany; Department of Neuroscience, Max-Planck-Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Grüneburgweg 14, 60322 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Neuroimage
|March 12, 2019
Summary
Congenitally blind individuals show visual cortex activation during non-visual tasks. Auditory working memory training integrated the visual cortex into auditory networks in the blind, highlighting cross-modal reorganization mechanisms.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Neuroimaging
Background:
- Congenitally blind individuals exhibit visual cortex activation during non-visual tasks, suggesting cross-modal plasticity.
- The precise neuronal mechanisms underlying this cross-modal activation remain incompletely understood.
- Understanding these mechanisms is crucial for insights into brain plasticity and sensory substitution.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neuronal mechanisms of cross-modal activation in the visual cortex of congenitally blind individuals.
- To examine how auditory working memory training influences functional connectivity within and between brain networks.
- To identify the spectral characteristics (theta, beta, gamma bands) of functional network reorganization following visual deprivation.
Main Methods:
- Magnetoencephalography (MEG) was used to record brain activity in congenitally blind and sighted adults.
- Participants performed a voice-based working memory task before and after auditory or tactile working memory training.
- Functional connectivity, specifically imaginary coherency in theta, beta, and gamma bands, was analyzed between brain regions.
Main Results:
- Auditory working memory training strengthened theta-band connectivity in sighted individuals and beta-band connectivity in blind individuals.
- In sighted participants, theta-band connectivity increased within auditory working memory networks (inferior frontal, superior temporal, insular cortex).
- In blind participants, beta-band networks emerged during training, with increased connectivity between auditory working memory areas and the visual cortex.
Conclusions:
- Long-range functional connectivity is a key mechanism driving brain reorganization in congenital blindness.
- Auditory working memory training can induce the integration of the visual cortex into task-specific networks in the blind individuals.
- The study provides novel insights into the spectral properties of functional network connectivity underlying cross-modal plasticity.
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