How learning to read Braille in visual and tactile domains reorganizes the sighted brain
Learning tactile Braille reading leverages cross-modal plasticity, emphasizing the brain’s ability to reallocate functions across sensory domains. This neuroplasticity engages motor and somatosensory areas and reaches language and cognitive centers like the visual word form area (VWFA), even in sigh...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2024.1297344/full |
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| author | Maciej Gaca Alicja M. Olszewska Dawid Droździel Agnieszka Kulesza Małgorzata Paplińska Bartosz Kossowski Katarzyna Jednoróg Jacek Matuszewski Aleksandra M. Herman Artur Marchewka |
| author_facet | Maciej Gaca Alicja M. Olszewska Dawid Droździel Agnieszka Kulesza Małgorzata Paplińska Bartosz Kossowski Katarzyna Jednoróg Jacek Matuszewski Aleksandra M. Herman Artur Marchewka |
| author_sort | Maciej Gaca |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Learning tactile Braille reading leverages cross-modal plasticity, emphasizing the brain’s ability to reallocate functions across sensory domains. This neuroplasticity engages motor and somatosensory areas and reaches language and cognitive centers like the visual word form area (VWFA), even in sighted subjects following training. No study has employed a complex reading task to monitor neural activity during the first weeks of Braille training. Since neuroplasticity can occur within days, understanding neural reorganization during early learning stages is critical. Moreover, such activation was not tested in visual and tactile domains using comparable tasks. Furthermore, implicit reading has not been studied in tactile Braille. Although visual reading in the native script occurs automatically, it remains uncertain whether the same applies to tactile reading. An implicit reading task could extend the knowledge of linguistic processing in Braille. Our study involved 17 sighted adults who learned Braille for 7 months and 19 controls. The experimental group participated in 7 testing sessions (1 week before the course, on the first day, after 1 and 6 weeks, after 3 and 7 months, and after 3 month-long hiatus). Using the fMRI Lexical Decision Task, we observed increased activity within the reading network, including the inferior frontal and supramarginal gyri, 1 week into learning in tactile and visual Braille. Interestingly, VWFA activation was observed after 1 week in the visual domain but only after 6 weeks in the tactile domain. This suggests that skill level in tactile reading influences the onset of involvement of VWFA. Once this activation was achieved, the peak level of VWFA engagement remained stable, even after the follow-up. Furthermore, an implicit reading task revealed increased activity within the reading network, including the VWFA, among participants learning Braille compared to the passive controls. Possibly, implicit reading occurs during non-reading tactile tasks where the Braille alphabet is present. We showed that the VWFA activity peak occurs faster in the visual domain compared to the tactile domain. We also showed that sighted subjects can process tactile Braille implicitly. These results enrich our understanding of neural adaptation mechanisms and the interplay between sensory modalities during complex, cross-modal learning. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4f5ab694d76e43e8835c9680b46ddcdc |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1662-453X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
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| series | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj-art-4f5ab694d76e43e8835c9680b46ddcdc2025-01-06T13:53:14ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neuroscience1662-453X2025-01-011810.3389/fnins.2024.12973441297344How learning to read Braille in visual and tactile domains reorganizes the sighted brainMaciej Gaca0Alicja M. Olszewska1Dawid Droździel2Agnieszka Kulesza3Małgorzata Paplińska4Bartosz Kossowski5Katarzyna Jednoróg6Jacek Matuszewski7Aleksandra M. Herman8Artur Marchewka9Laboratory of Brain Imaging, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, PolandLaboratory of Brain Imaging, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, PolandLaboratory of Brain Imaging, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, PolandLaboratory of Brain Imaging, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, PolandThe Maria Grzegorzewska University, Warsaw, PolandLaboratory of Brain Imaging, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, PolandLaboratory of Language Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, PolandLaboratory of Brain Imaging, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, PolandLaboratory of Brain Imaging, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, PolandLaboratory of Brain Imaging, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, PolandLearning tactile Braille reading leverages cross-modal plasticity, emphasizing the brain’s ability to reallocate functions across sensory domains. This neuroplasticity engages motor and somatosensory areas and reaches language and cognitive centers like the visual word form area (VWFA), even in sighted subjects following training. No study has employed a complex reading task to monitor neural activity during the first weeks of Braille training. Since neuroplasticity can occur within days, understanding neural reorganization during early learning stages is critical. Moreover, such activation was not tested in visual and tactile domains using comparable tasks. Furthermore, implicit reading has not been studied in tactile Braille. Although visual reading in the native script occurs automatically, it remains uncertain whether the same applies to tactile reading. An implicit reading task could extend the knowledge of linguistic processing in Braille. Our study involved 17 sighted adults who learned Braille for 7 months and 19 controls. The experimental group participated in 7 testing sessions (1 week before the course, on the first day, after 1 and 6 weeks, after 3 and 7 months, and after 3 month-long hiatus). Using the fMRI Lexical Decision Task, we observed increased activity within the reading network, including the inferior frontal and supramarginal gyri, 1 week into learning in tactile and visual Braille. Interestingly, VWFA activation was observed after 1 week in the visual domain but only after 6 weeks in the tactile domain. This suggests that skill level in tactile reading influences the onset of involvement of VWFA. Once this activation was achieved, the peak level of VWFA engagement remained stable, even after the follow-up. Furthermore, an implicit reading task revealed increased activity within the reading network, including the VWFA, among participants learning Braille compared to the passive controls. Possibly, implicit reading occurs during non-reading tactile tasks where the Braille alphabet is present. We showed that the VWFA activity peak occurs faster in the visual domain compared to the tactile domain. We also showed that sighted subjects can process tactile Braille implicitly. These results enrich our understanding of neural adaptation mechanisms and the interplay between sensory modalities during complex, cross-modal learning.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2024.1297344/fullbrain plasticityvisual and tactile Braille readinglongitudinal designfMRIcross-modal plasticity |
| spellingShingle | Maciej Gaca Alicja M. Olszewska Dawid Droździel Agnieszka Kulesza Małgorzata Paplińska Bartosz Kossowski Katarzyna Jednoróg Jacek Matuszewski Aleksandra M. Herman Artur Marchewka How learning to read Braille in visual and tactile domains reorganizes the sighted brain Frontiers in Neuroscience brain plasticity visual and tactile Braille reading longitudinal design fMRI cross-modal plasticity |
| title | How learning to read Braille in visual and tactile domains reorganizes the sighted brain |
| title_full | How learning to read Braille in visual and tactile domains reorganizes the sighted brain |
| title_fullStr | How learning to read Braille in visual and tactile domains reorganizes the sighted brain |
| title_full_unstemmed | How learning to read Braille in visual and tactile domains reorganizes the sighted brain |
| title_short | How learning to read Braille in visual and tactile domains reorganizes the sighted brain |
| title_sort | how learning to read braille in visual and tactile domains reorganizes the sighted brain |
| topic | brain plasticity visual and tactile Braille reading longitudinal design fMRI cross-modal plasticity |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2024.1297344/full |
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