Abstract
In a memory-guided drawing task under blindfolded conditions, we have recently used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to demonstrate that the primary visual cortex (V1) may operate as the visuo-spatial buffer, or “sketchpad,” for working memory. The results implied, however, a modality-independent or amodal form of its operation. In the present study, to validate the role of V1 in non-visual memory, we eliminated not only the visual input but all levels of visual processing by replicating the paradigm in a congenitally blind individual. Our novel Cognitive-Kinesthetic method was used to train this totally blind subject to draw complex images guided solely by tactile memory. Control tasks of tactile exploration and memorization of the image to be drawn, and memory-free scribbling were also included. FMRI was run before training and after training. Remarkably, V1 of this congenitally blind individual, which before training exhibited noisy, immature, and non-specific responses, after training produced full-fledged response time-courses specific to the tactile-memory drawing task. The results reveal the operation of a rapid training-based plasticity mechanism that recruits the resources of V1 in the process of learning to draw. The learning paradigm allowed us to investigate for the first time the evolution of plastic re-assignment in V1 in a congenitally blind subject. These findings are consistent with a non-visual memory involvement of V1, and specifically imply that the observed cortical reorganization can be empowered by the process of learning to draw.
Highlights
We may not be aware of the complexity of drawing, but when analyzed in detail it becomes clear that drawing is an amazing process that requires precise orchestration of multiple brain mechanisms; perceptual processing, memory, precise motor planning and motor control, spatial transformations, emotions, and other diverse higher cognitive functions, are all involved
AN INNOVATIVE EXPERIMENTAL PLATFORM As there are no preceding neuroimaging studies of the kind, to make these studies possible it was necessary to develop a unique conceptual and experimental platform integrating a number of innovations, such as: (1) the Cognitive-Kinesthetic Method to effectively train people to draw without vision, (2) the first multisensory MRI-Compatible Drawing Tablet, incorporating a motion-capture system, (3) the first Method for estimating Topographic Maps in the Blind, (4) as well as implementation of standard probabilistic maps in blind individuals
In the first training session, CB4 spent an average of 183 ± 43 s in completing each drawing
Summary
We may not be aware of the complexity of drawing, but when analyzed in detail it becomes clear that drawing is an amazing process that requires precise orchestration of multiple brain mechanisms; perceptual processing, memory, precise motor planning and motor control, spatial transformations, emotions, and other diverse higher cognitive functions, are all involved. In terms of the multiple-intelligence theory (Gardner, 1983), drawing heavily employs such categories as bodily-kinesthetic and visuo-spatial intelligence. This operational complexity may be one reason for the neglect of drawing as an experimental paradigm, being considered too complex to be successfully analyzed. While the first part of this claim is often mentioned in vision science, the second—memory-related—part has been widely neglected, as though it did not reach the right audience
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