Cross-sectional and longitudinal changes in category-selectivity in visual cortex following pediatric cortical...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Neuroimaging

Background:

• The ventral occipitotemporal cortex (VOTC) exhibits a consistent topographic organization for category-selective responses, believed to arise from neuronal clustering and experience.
• This organization is crucial for functions like object recognition and language processing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the plasticity and malleability of VOTC organization in individuals who underwent childhood unilateral VOTC resection for epilepsy.
• To compare the functional topography and neural representations of category-selective regions in patients with VOTC resection versus controls.

Main Methods:

• Utilized cross-sectional and longitudinal functional imaging studies (fMRI).
• Compared 17 category-selective regions in individuals with childhood VOTC resection, control patients with extra-VOTC resections, and typically developing individuals.
• Analyzed topographic organization and neural representations.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated both adherence to and deviations from the typical VOTC organization in individuals with prior resections.
• Observed dynamic, fine-grained competitive interactions between word- and face-selective regions over time within the remaining VOTC.
• Evidence of significant cortical plasticity and potential for functional remodeling.

Conclusions:

• The human VOTC organization shows remarkable, yet not absolute, resilience to early-life resection.
• Findings highlight the brain's capacity for significant functional reorganization and adaptation in response to structural changes.
• Suggests that extrastriate architecture and function can be remodeled, impacting category selectivity and neural representation.