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The Journal of Neuroscience, February 18, 2009, 29(7):2205-2211; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5451-08.2009

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Development/Plasticity/Repair
Thick Visual Cortex in the Early Blind

Jiefeng Jiang,¹ Wanlin Zhu,^1,2 Feng Shi,¹ Yong Liu,¹ Jun Li,¹ Wen Qin,³ Kuncheng Li,³ Chunshui Yu,³ and Tianzi Jiang¹

¹LIAMA Center for Computational Medicine, National Laboratory of Pattern Recognition, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China, ²Department of Mathematics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China, and ³Department of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing 100053, China

Correspondence should be addressed to either of the following: Prof. Tianzi Jiang, LIAMA Center for Computational Medicine, National Laboratory of Pattern Recognition, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China, Email: jiangtz{at}nlpr.ia.ac.cn; or Prof. Chunshui Yu, Department of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing 100053, China, Email: chunshuiyu{at}yahoo.cn

We investigated the key neurodevelopmental factors that determine cortical thickness, namely synaptogenesis and regression, by analyzing the thickness of the visual cortex in humans with early- and late-onset blindness. The bilateral visual cortices of the early blind were significantly thicker than those of the late blind and the sighted controls, but the latter two groups did not differ significantly. This suggests reduced "pruning" of synapses in the visual cortex, which may be due to a lack of visual experience during a critical developmental period. These findings support the hypothesis that sensory experience is necessary for an appropriate regression and remodeling of neuronal processes and that synaptic regression might be a major determinant of macroscopic anatomical features like cortical thickness.

Key words: cortical thickness; blind; plasticity; visual deprivation; magnetic resonance imaging; development

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Received Nov. 12, 2008; revised Jan. 8, 2009; accepted Jan. 13, 2009.

Correspondence should be addressed to either of the following: Prof. Tianzi Jiang, LIAMA Center for Computational Medicine, National Laboratory of Pattern Recognition, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China, Email: jiangtz{at}nlpr.ia.ac.cn; or Prof. Chunshui Yu, Department of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing 100053, China, Email: chunshuiyu{at}yahoo.cn

This article has been cited by other articles:

				H. Bridge, A. Cowey, N. Ragge, and K. Watkins Imaging studies in congenital anophthalmia reveal preservation of brain architecture in 'visual' cortex Brain, December 1, 2009; 132(12): 3467 - 3480. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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