Abstract #3280

Alterations of the brain microstructure and corresponding functional connectivity in early blind adolescents with and without residual light perception

Zhifeng Zhou¹, Jinping Xu², Leilei Shi³, Xia Liu⁴, and Hengguo Li⁵

¹Department of Radiology, Shenzhen Mental Health Center, Shenzhen Kangning Hospital, Shenzhen, China, ²Institute of Biomedical and Health Engineering, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China, ³Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea, Republic of, ⁴Shenzhen Mental Health Center, Shenzhen Kangning Hospital, Shenzhen, China, ⁵Medical Imaging Center, the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

Previous neuroimaging studies of adult blind have revealed structural and functional neuroplasticity. It is still unclear if the brains of young blind will have the same alterations, and the effects of residual light perception (RLP) on the structure and function of the blind brain cannot be ignored. This study explored the structural and functional brain changes in early blind adolescents (EBAs) with and without RLP using voxel-based analysis method of diffusion tensor imaging data and resting-state functional connectivity analysis. The results provide new insights into the mechanisms underlying the reorganization of brain in EBAs with or without RLP.

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