Massive cortical reorganization in sighted Braille readers

• Published in: eLife Vol. 5; p. e10762
• Main Authors: Siuda-Krzywicka, Katarzyna, Bola, Łukasz, Paplińska, Małgorzata, Sumera, Ewa, Jednoróg, Katarzyna, Marchewka, Artur, Śliwińska, Magdalena W, Amedi, Amir, Szwed, Marcin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England eLife Sciences Publications Ltd 15.03.2016; eLife Sciences Publication; eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
• Subjects: Adult; Blindness; Brain Mapping; Brain research; Cortex (somatosensory); Experiments; Female; fMRI; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Humans; Laboratories; Language; Life Sciences; Magnetic fields; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Medical research; Neural networks; Neurobiology; Neuronal Plasticity; Neurons and Cognition; Neuroscience; Neurosciences; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Reading; Somatosensory Cortex - physiology; somatosensory system; Touch; Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation; Visual cortex; Visual Cortex - physiology; visual system; visual system; fMRI; somatosensory system; human; neuroscience

The brain is capable of large-scale reorganization in blindness or after massive injury. Such reorganization crosses the division into separate sensory cortices (visual, somatosensory...). As its result, the visual cortex of the blind becomes active during tactile Braille reading. Although the possi...