Brain plasticity dynamics during tactile Braille learning in sighted subjects: Multi-contrast MRI approach

• Published in: NeuroImage (Orlando, Fla.) Vol. 227; p. 117613
• Main Authors: Matuszewski, Jacek, Kossowski, Bartosz, Bola, Łukasz, Banaszkiewicz, Anna, Paplińska, Małgorzata, Gyger, Lucien, Kherif, Ferath, Szwed, Marcin, Frackowiak, Richard S., Jednoróg, Katarzyna, Draganski, Bogdan, Marchewka, Artur
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 15.02.2021; Elsevier Limited; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adaptation, Physiological - physiology; Adult; Braille; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Brain - physiology; Brain plasticity; Brain research; Cognitive ability; Female; Functional anatomy; Humans; Intracortical myelin; Language; Learning - physiology; Longitudinal design; Longitudinal Studies; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Multimodal MRI; Myelin; Neuronal Plasticity - physiology; Neuroplasticity; Quantitative MRI; Reading; Sensory Aids; Somatosensory cortex; Structure-function relationships; Substantia grisea; Tactile Braille reading; Tactile discrimination learning; Temporal lobe; Touch Perception - physiology; Tactile Braille reading; Intracortical myelin; Brain plasticity; Longitudinal design; Quantitative MRI; Multimodal MRI
• ISSN: 1053-8119; 1095-9572; 1095-9572
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117613

•We monitor multiple tissue properties in sighted adults learning tactile reading•During learning, functional reorganization precedes structural changes•Functional plasticity of reading network occurred within the first months of learning•Early visual and somatosensory cortex showed gradual grey matter volume remodelling•Intracortical myelin content grown steadily in the ventral occipito-temporal cortex A growing body of empirical evidence supports the notion of diverse neurobiological processes underlying learning-induced plasticity changes in the human brain. There are still open questions about how brain plasticity depends on cognitive task complexity, how it supports interactions between brain systems and with what temporal and spatial trajectory. We investigated brain and behavioural changes in sighted adults during 8-months training of tactile Braille reading whilst monitoring brain structure and function at 5 different time points. We adopted a novel multivariate approach that includes behavioural data and specific MRI protocols sensitive to tissue properties to assess local functional and structural and myelin changes over time. Our results show that while the reading network, located in the ventral occipitotemporal cortex, rapidly adapts to tactile input, sensory areas show changes in grey matter volume and intra-cortical myelin at different times. This approach has allowed us to examine and describe neuroplastic mechanisms underlying complex cognitive systems and their (sensory) inputs and (motor) outputs differentially, at a mesoscopic level.