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Neural substrates of spatial processing and navigation in blindness: An activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis

Even though vision is considered the best suited sensory modality to acquire spatial information, blind individuals can form spatial representations to navigate and orient themselves efficiently in space. Consequently, many studies support the amodality hypothesis of spatial representations since se...

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Autores principales: Bleau, Maxime, Paré, Samuel, Chebat, Daniel-Robert, Kupers, Ron, Nemargut, Joseph Paul, Ptito, Maurice
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9630591/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36340755
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2022.1010354
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author Bleau, Maxime
Paré, Samuel
Chebat, Daniel-Robert
Kupers, Ron
Nemargut, Joseph Paul
Ptito, Maurice
author_facet Bleau, Maxime
Paré, Samuel
Chebat, Daniel-Robert
Kupers, Ron
Nemargut, Joseph Paul
Ptito, Maurice
author_sort Bleau, Maxime
collection PubMed
description Even though vision is considered the best suited sensory modality to acquire spatial information, blind individuals can form spatial representations to navigate and orient themselves efficiently in space. Consequently, many studies support the amodality hypothesis of spatial representations since sensory modalities other than vision contribute to the formation of spatial representations, independently of visual experience and imagery. However, given the high variability in abilities and deficits observed in blind populations, a clear consensus about the neural representations of space has yet to be established. To this end, we performed a meta-analysis of the literature on the neural correlates of spatial processing and navigation via sensory modalities other than vision, like touch and audition, in individuals with early and late onset blindness. An activation likelihood estimation (ALE) analysis of the neuroimaging literature revealed that early blind individuals and sighted controls activate the same neural networks in the processing of non-visual spatial information and navigation, including the posterior parietal cortex, frontal eye fields, insula, and the hippocampal complex. Furthermore, blind individuals also recruit primary and associative occipital areas involved in visuo-spatial processing via cross-modal plasticity mechanisms. The scarcity of studies involving late blind individuals did not allow us to establish a clear consensus about the neural substrates of spatial representations in this specific population. In conclusion, the results of our analysis on neuroimaging studies involving early blind individuals support the amodality hypothesis of spatial representations.
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spelling pubmed-96305912022-11-04 Neural substrates of spatial processing and navigation in blindness: An activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis Bleau, Maxime Paré, Samuel Chebat, Daniel-Robert Kupers, Ron Nemargut, Joseph Paul Ptito, Maurice Front Neurosci Neuroscience Even though vision is considered the best suited sensory modality to acquire spatial information, blind individuals can form spatial representations to navigate and orient themselves efficiently in space. Consequently, many studies support the amodality hypothesis of spatial representations since sensory modalities other than vision contribute to the formation of spatial representations, independently of visual experience and imagery. However, given the high variability in abilities and deficits observed in blind populations, a clear consensus about the neural representations of space has yet to be established. To this end, we performed a meta-analysis of the literature on the neural correlates of spatial processing and navigation via sensory modalities other than vision, like touch and audition, in individuals with early and late onset blindness. An activation likelihood estimation (ALE) analysis of the neuroimaging literature revealed that early blind individuals and sighted controls activate the same neural networks in the processing of non-visual spatial information and navigation, including the posterior parietal cortex, frontal eye fields, insula, and the hippocampal complex. Furthermore, blind individuals also recruit primary and associative occipital areas involved in visuo-spatial processing via cross-modal plasticity mechanisms. The scarcity of studies involving late blind individuals did not allow us to establish a clear consensus about the neural substrates of spatial representations in this specific population. In conclusion, the results of our analysis on neuroimaging studies involving early blind individuals support the amodality hypothesis of spatial representations. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-10-20 /pmc/articles/PMC9630591/ /pubmed/36340755 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2022.1010354 Text en Copyright © 2022 Bleau, Paré, Chebat, Kupers, Nemargut and Ptito. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Neuroscience
Bleau, Maxime
Paré, Samuel
Chebat, Daniel-Robert
Kupers, Ron
Nemargut, Joseph Paul
Ptito, Maurice
Neural substrates of spatial processing and navigation in blindness: An activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis
title Neural substrates of spatial processing and navigation in blindness: An activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis
title_full Neural substrates of spatial processing and navigation in blindness: An activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis
title_fullStr Neural substrates of spatial processing and navigation in blindness: An activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis
title_full_unstemmed Neural substrates of spatial processing and navigation in blindness: An activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis
title_short Neural substrates of spatial processing and navigation in blindness: An activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis
title_sort neural substrates of spatial processing and navigation in blindness: an activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis
topic Neuroscience
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9630591/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36340755
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2022.1010354
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