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Braille Reading in Blind and Sighted Individuals
Poster Session B, Friday, October 25, 10:00 - 11:30 am, Great Hall 3 and 4
Artur Marchewka1, Maciej Gaca, Alicja Olszewska, Aleksandra Herman, Katarzyna Jednoróg; 1Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology Polish Academy of Science
The human brain possesses an extraordinary capacity to reorganize itself in response to altered experience or training. In blind individuals, the occipital cortex undergoes substantial sensory tuning to process tactile inputs such as Braille reading. At the same time, recent neuroimaging studies show that Braille reading can engage the visual cortex of sighted subjects, providing an opportunity to investigate the limits of experience-dependent neuroplasticity. Here, we investigate differences and similarities in brain activation during Braille reading between 21 blind and 17 sighted individuals (all women) who underwent seven months of tactile Braille reading training. In the fMRI scanner, the participants performed an experimental lexical decision task and a control tactile task (six-dot sign detection). The fMRI analysis comparing experimental to control tasks revealed common activation in both groups in the left ventral occipito-temporal cortex as well as in the left inferior frontal and precentral cortex, underscoring their modality-independent role in word recognition. Blind participants showed higher activation than the sighted mainly in occipital areas, in line with previous reports of cross-modal reorganization and repurposing of visual processing areas following visual deprivation. Conversely, sighted individuals showed higher activity than blind individuals in left somatomotor regions and the right cerebellum, suggesting increased involvement of motor and spatial control in line with their lower Braille reading proficiency. This research contributes to our understanding of neuroplasticity, revealing converging adaptations in both the blind and the sighted to tactile Braille reading. It highlights the flexibility of the human brain, advancing our knowledge of how sensory experiences shape cognitive processes.
Topic Areas: Reading,