Gudi-Mindermann, H. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2019

Data-driven classification of spectral profiles reveals brain region-specific plasticity

Congenital blindness has been shown to result in behavioral adaptation and neuronal reorganization, but the underlying neuronal mechanisms are largely unknown. Brain rhythms are characteristic for anatomically defined brain regions and provide a putative mechanistic link to cognitive processes. In a novel approach, using magnetoencephalography resting state data of congenitally blind and sighted humans, deprivation-related changes in spectral profiles were mapped to the cortex using clustering and classification procedures. Altered spectral profiles in visual areas suggest changes in visual alpha-gamma band inhibitory-excitatory circuits. Remarkably, spectral profiles were also altered in auditory and right frontal areas showing increased power in theta-to-beta frequency bands in blind compared to sighted individuals, possibly related to adaptive auditory and higher-cognitive processing. Moreover, occipital alpha correlated with microstructural white matter properties extending bilaterally across posterior parts of the brain. We provide evidence that visual deprivation selectively modulates spectral profiles, possibly reflecting structural and functional adaptation.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2017

Working Memory Training Integrates Visual Cortex into Beta-Band Networks in Congenitally Blind Individuals

Congenitally blind individuals activate the visual cortex during non-visual tasks. Such crossmodal reorganization is likely associated with changes in large-scale functional connectivity, the spectral characteristics of which can be assessed by analysis of neural oscillations. To test visual cortical integration into working memory networks, we recorded magnetoencephalographic data from congenitally blind and sighted individuals during resting state as well as during a voice-based working memory task prior to and following working memory training with voices, or tactile stimuli or a training-control condition. Auditory training strengthened beta-band (17.5-22.5 Hz) connectivity (imaginary coherency) in the blind and theta-band (2.5-5 Hz) connectivity in the sighted during the task, suggesting different neural coupling mechanisms. In the sighted, theta-band connectivity increased between brain areas involved in auditory working memory (inferior frontal, superior temporal, insular cortex). In the blind, beta-band networks largely emerged during the training, and connectivity increased between brain areas involved in auditory working memory and the visual cortex. The prominent involvement of the right fusiform face area in this beta-band network suggests a task-specific integration of visual cortex. Our findings highlight large-scale interactions as a key mechanism of functional reorganization following congenital blindness, and provide new insights into the spectral characteristics of the mechanism.

neuroscience↗