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Updated: Sep 11, 2025
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Monocular Visual Deprivation and Ocular Dominance Plasticity Measurement in the Mouse Primary Visual Cortex
Published on: February 8, 2020
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Cross-sectional and longitudinal changes in category selectivity in visual cortex following pediatric cortical
Tina T Liu1,2,3, Michael C Granovetter1,4,5, Anne Margarette S Maallo1
1Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Communications Biology
|August 13, 2025
Summary
Childhood brain surgery for epilepsy can alter how the ventral occipitotemporal cortex (VOTC) organizes visual information. This study shows the brain
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Neuroimaging
Background:
- The ventral occipitotemporal cortex (VOTC) exhibits a consistent topographic organization for category-selective responses across individuals.
- This organization is believed to arise from neuronal clustering, intrinsic architecture, and experiential tuning.
- The plasticity of this organization, especially after early-life brain alterations, remains an area of investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the malleability of VOTC topographic organization in individuals who underwent unilateral VOTC resection in childhood.
- To compare the neural representations and topography of category-selective regions in patients with VOTC resection, control patients, and healthy controls.
- To understand the extent of cortical plasticity and potential for functional remodeling in the VOTC.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional and longitudinal functional imaging studies were employed.
- Seventeen category-selective regions were analyzed in individuals with childhood VOTC resection, control patients, and typically developing controls.
- Comparisons focused on the topography and neural representations of these regions.
Main Results:
- Individuals with childhood VOTC resection showed both adherence to and deviations from the typical VOTC organization.
- Significant alterations were observed in the hemispheric lateralization of category-selective regions.
- Fine-grained competitive dynamics between word- and face-selectivity were identified in the remaining VOTC over time.
Conclusions:
- The study elucidates the considerable plasticity of the human ventral occipitotemporal cortex (VOTC).
- Findings highlight the brain's capacity to remodel extrastriate architecture and function following early-life resections.
- The research provides insights into the adaptability of neural organization in response to significant brain alterations.
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