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Visual experience shapes the neural networks remapping touch into external space

Virginie Crollen, Latifa Lazzouni, Mohamed Rezk, Antoine Bellemare, Franco Lepore, Olivier Collignon
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/149021
Virginie Crollen
1Centre for Mind/Brain Science, University of Trento, 38123 Mattarello TN, Italy;
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  • For correspondence: virginie.crollen@unitn.it olivier.collignon@uclouvain.be
Latifa Lazzouni
3Centre de Recherche en Neuropsychologie et Cognition (CERNEC), Université de Montréal, HV S Montreal, Canada.
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Mohamed Rezk
2Institute of Psychology (IPSY) and Institute of Neuroscience (IoNS), Université Catholique de Louvain, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium;
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Antoine Bellemare
3Centre de Recherche en Neuropsychologie et Cognition (CERNEC), Université de Montréal, HV S Montreal, Canada.
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Franco Lepore
3Centre de Recherche en Neuropsychologie et Cognition (CERNEC), Université de Montréal, HV S Montreal, Canada.
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Olivier Collignon
1Centre for Mind/Brain Science, University of Trento, 38123 Mattarello TN, Italy;
2Institute of Psychology (IPSY) and Institute of Neuroscience (IoNS), Université Catholique de Louvain, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium;
3Centre de Recherche en Neuropsychologie et Cognition (CERNEC), Université de Montréal, HV S Montreal, Canada.
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  • For correspondence: virginie.crollen@unitn.it olivier.collignon@uclouvain.be
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Abstract

Localizing touch relies on the activation of skin-based and externally defined spatial frames of references. Psychophysical studies have demonstrated that early visual deprivation prevents the automatic remapping of touch into external space. We used fMRI to characterize how visual experience impacts on the brain circuits dedicated to the spatial processing of touch. Sighted and congenitally blind humans (male and female) performed a tactile temporal order judgment (TOJ) task, either with the hands uncrossed or crossed over the body midline. Behavioral data confirmed that crossing the hands has a detrimental effect on TOJ judgments in sighted but not in blind. Crucially, the crossed hand posture elicited more activity in a fronto-parietal network in the sighted group only. Psychophysiological interaction analysis revealed that the congenitally blind showed enhanced functional connectivity between parietal and frontal regions in the crossed versus uncrossed hand postures. Our results demonstrate that visual experience scaffolds the neural implementation of touch perception.

Significance statement Although we seamlessly localize tactile events in our daily life, it is not a trivial operation because the hands move constantly within the peripersonal space. To process touch correctly, the brain has therefore to take the current position of the limbs into account and remap them to their location in the external world. In sighted, parietal and premotor areas support this process. However, while visual experience has been suggested to support the implementation of the automatic external remapping of touch, no studies so far have investigated how early visual deprivation alters the brain network supporting touch localization. Examining this question is therefore crucial to conclusively determine the intrinsic role vision plays in scaffolding the neural implementation of touch perception.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
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Posted June 12, 2017.
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Visual experience shapes the neural networks remapping touch into external space
Virginie Crollen, Latifa Lazzouni, Mohamed Rezk, Antoine Bellemare, Franco Lepore, Olivier Collignon
bioRxiv 149021; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/149021
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Visual experience shapes the neural networks remapping touch into external space
Virginie Crollen, Latifa Lazzouni, Mohamed Rezk, Antoine Bellemare, Franco Lepore, Olivier Collignon
bioRxiv 149021; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/149021

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