Altered grid-like coding in early blind people.
Nat Commun
; 15(1): 3476, 2024 Apr 24.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38658530
ABSTRACT
Cognitive maps in the hippocampal-entorhinal system are central for the representation of both spatial and non-spatial relationships. Although this system, especially in humans, heavily relies on vision, the role of visual experience in shaping the development of cognitive maps remains largely unknown. Here, we test sighted and early blind individuals in both imagined navigation in fMRI and real-world navigation. During imagined navigation, the Human Navigation Network, constituted by frontal, medial temporal, and parietal cortices, is reliably activated in both groups, showing resilience to visual deprivation. However, neural geometry analyses highlight crucial differences between groups. A 60° rotational symmetry, characteristic of a hexagonal grid-like coding, emerges in the entorhinal cortex of sighted but not blind people, who instead show a 90° (4-fold) symmetry, indicative of a square grid. Moreover, higher parietal cortex activity during navigation in blind people correlates with the magnitude of 4-fold symmetry. In sum, early blindness can alter the geometry of entorhinal cognitive maps, possibly as a consequence of higher reliance on parietal egocentric coding during navigation.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Brain Mapping
/
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
/
Blindness
/
Entorhinal Cortex
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
En
Journal:
Nat Commun
Journal subject:
BIOLOGIA
/
CIENCIA
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Italy
Country of publication:
United kingdom