Human Adult Cortical Reorganization and Consequent Visual Distortion
Open Access
- 5 September 2007
- journal article
- case report
- Published by Society for Neuroscience in Journal of Neuroscience
- Vol. 27 (36) , 9585-9594
- https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.2650-07.2007
Abstract
Neural and behavioral evidence for cortical reorganization in the adult somatosensory system after loss of sensory input (e.g., amputation) has been well documented. In contrast, evidence for reorganization in the adult visual system is far less clear: neural evidence is the subject of controversy, behavioral evidence is sparse, and studies combining neural and behavioral evidence have not previously been reported. Here, we report converging behavioral and neuroimaging evidence from a stroke patient (B.L.) in support of cortical reorganization in the adult human visual system. B.L.'s stroke spared the primary visual cortex (V1), but destroyed fibers that normally provide input to V1 from the upper left visual field (LVF). As a consequence, B.L. is blind in the upper LVF, and exhibits distorted perception in the lower LVF: stimuli appear vertically elongated, toward and into the blind upper LVF. For example, a square presented in the lower LVF is perceived as a rectangle extending upward. We hypothesized that the perceptual distortion was a consequence of cortical reorganization in V1. Extensive behavioral testing supported our hypothesis, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) confirmed V1 reorganization. Together, the behavioral and fMRI data show that loss of input to V1 after a stroke leads to cortical reorganization in the adult human visual system, and provide the first evidence that reorganization of the adult visual system affects visual perception. These findings contribute to our understanding of the human adult brain's capacity to change and has implications for topics ranging from learning to recovery from brain damage.Keywords
This publication has 51 references indexed in Scilit:
- Rewiring the adult brainNature, 2005
- Plasticity in adult cat visual cortex (area 17) following circumscribed monocular lesions of all retinal layersThe Journal of Physiology, 2000
- Visuotopic Reorganization in the Primary Visual Cortex of Adult Cats Following Monocular and Binocular Retinal LesionsCerebral Cortex, 1996
- Responses of cells in monkey visual cortex during perceptual filling-in of an artificial scotomaNature, 1995
- Phantom-limb pain as a perceptual correlate of cortical reorganization following arm amputationNature, 1995
- Separate neural pathways for the visual analysis of object shape in perception and prehensionCurrent Biology, 1994
- Receptive field dynamics in adult primary visual cortexNature, 1992
- Perceptual filling in of artificially induced scotomas in human visionNature, 1991
- Reorganization of Retinotopic Cortical Maps in Adult Mammals After Lesions of the RetinaScience, 1990
- A note on two problems in connexion with graphsNumerische Mathematik, 1959