A brief exposure to rightward prismatic adaptation changes resting-state network characteristics of the ventral attentional system.

Louis Gudmundsson,Stephanie Clarke,Jakub Vohryzek,Sonia Crottaz-Herbette,Eleonora Fornari,Patric Hagmann,Vince Grolmusz

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0234382

Abstract

A brief session of rightward prismatic adaptation (R-PA) has been shown to alleviate neglect symptoms in patients with right hemispheric damage, very likely by switching hemispheric dominance of the ventral attentional network (VAN) from the right to the left and by changing task-related activity within the dorsal attentional network (DAN). We have investigated this very rapid change in functional organisation with a network approach by comparing resting-state connectivity before and after a brief exposure i) to R-PA (14 normal subjects; experimental condition) or ii) to plain glasses (12 normal subjects; control condition). A whole brain analysis (comprising 129 regions of interest) highlighted R-PA-induced changes within a bilateral, fronto-temporal network, which consisted of 13 nodes and 11 edges; all edges involved one of 4 frontal nodes, which were part of VAN. The analysis of network characteristics within VAN and DAN revealed a R-PA-induced decrease in connectivity strength between nodes and a decrease in local efficiency within VAN but not within DAN. These results indicate that the resting-state connectivity configuration of VAN is modulated by R-PA, possibly by decreasing its modularity.

Highlights

Prismatic adaptation consists of a brief exposure to prisms, during which the subject points towards visual targets
Behavioral aftereffect of a brief exposure to R-prismatic adaptation (PA)
The aftereffect, i. e., the pointing error that occurred during the first trial after the prisms were removed, was -66± 16 mm for left and -56 ± 19 for right targets in the rightward prismatic adaptation (R-PA) group and +5 ± 10 mm for left targets and +6 ± 8 for Network science and prismatic adaptation right targets in the control group

Summary

Introduction

Prismatic adaptation consists of a brief exposure to prisms, during which the subject points towards visual targets. Under rightward-deviating prisms (R-PA), the first pointing trials overshoot to the right; after 10–15 pointing this error disappears due to visuomotor recalibration. When the prisms are taken off, the immediately following pointing trials overshoot to the left; this error constitutes the “aftereffect” of PA [1]. Network science and prismatic adaptation decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion