Neuroscience 2004 Abstract
| Presentation Number: | 177.2 |
|---|---|
| Abstract Title: | Neural substrate underlying tactile discrimination in Mahjong experts: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study. |
| Authors: |
Saito, D. N.*1
; Toyoda, H.1
; Kashikura, K.2
; Okada, T.1
; Honda, M.1
; Yonekura, Y.2
; Sadato, N.1,3
1Cerebral Integration, Cerebral Res., Natl. Instute for Physiological Sci., Okazaki, Japan 2Japan, 38, Nishigonaka, Myodaiji, 444-8585, 3Biomed. Imaging Res. Ctr., 38, Nishigonaka, Myodaiji, 444-8585, |
| Primary Theme and Topics |
Sensory Systems - Multisensory |
| Secondary Theme and Topics | Cognition and Behavior<br />- Human Cognition, Behavior, and Anatomy<br />-- Learning and long-term memory |
| Session: |
177. Multisensory I Poster |
| Presentation Time: | Sunday, October 24, 2004 9:00 AM-10:00 AM |
| Location: | San Diego Convention Center - Hall A-H, Board # R4 |
| Keywords: | TACTILE, CROSS-MODAL, PLASTICITY, OCCIPITAL CORTEX |
Tactile-visual cross-modal plasticity due to visual deprivation has been reported. Whether this is solely due to visual deprivation or with any long-term tactile training is not yet determined, particularly in the primary visual cortex (V1). If tactile learning by the sighted subjects induces activation of the visual cortex by the tactile tasks, the latter may be the case. Here we conducted fMRI studies with normal sighted persons who had long been trained by tactile shape discrimination of Mah-Jong tiles with their right thumb (Saito et al., 2003). The tasks were the tactile shape discrimination with Mah-Jong tiles and with Braille characters to which they are naïve. During the scan, two dimensional shape patterns on a plastic tile were presented tactually. Subjects were explored the presented tiles by the right thumb with eyes closed and asked to discriminate the presented pair was same or not. Tactile discrimination with Mah-Jong tile with their right thumb activated the V1 of the well-trained subjects. The behavioral performance of the trained group was better than that of the non-trained group. Braille discrimination did not activate the V1 of either trained or non-trained group without performance difference. The V1 of the trained subject was not activated by the passive Braille discrimination task that induced the V1 activation of the early blind. Hence the activation of the V1 of the sighted subjects may represent the cross-modal association caused by long-term training specific to the trained materials.
Sample Citation:
[Authors]. [Abstract Title]. Program No. XXX.XX. 2004 Neuroscience Meeting Planner. San Diego, CA: Society for Neuroscience, 2004. Online.
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