Abstract #0579
Top Down Influence on the Visual Cortex of the Blind During Auditory Sensory Substitution
Matthew C. Murphy 1,2 , Christopher Fisher 1 , Seong-Gi Kim 2,3 , Joel S. Schuman 1 , Amy C. Nau 1 , and Kevin C. Chan 1,2
1
Department of Ophthalmology, University of
Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States,
2
Neuroimaging
Laboratory, Department of Radiology, University of
Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States,
3
Center
for Neuroscience Imaging Research, Department of
Biological Sciences, SKKU, Suwon, Korea
Blind persons may acquire visual perception indirectly
using sensory substitution devices. One such device (The
vOICe) converts images to auditory soundscapes. To
examine the effect of top down input on the processing
of soundscapes in the visual cortex, we scanned sighted
and blind subjects both immediately before and
immediately after training them to interpret the
soundscapes as images. Significant negative BOLD
responses were observed in the visual cortex of sighted
subjects in both conditions. This negative response is
absent in blind subjects before training. Furthermore,
the BOLD response becomes significantly positive after
training indicating of a significant top down influence.
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