Enhanced heat discrimination in congenital blindness

Slimani, Hocine; Ptito, Maurice; Kupers, Ron

doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2015.01.037

Cited by 19 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…In the case of early blindness, functional and structural brain plasticity allow behavioural adaptation to visual deprivation (Kupers & Ptito, 2014). In humans, early blindness results in enhanced pitch discrimination (Gougoux et al., 2004; Hamilton et al., 2004; Wan et al., 2010), better sound localization (Fieger et al., 2006; Lessard et al., 1998; Roder et al., 1999), enhanced tactile acuity (Beaulieu‐Lefebvre et al., 2011; Van Boven et al., 2000; Goldreich & Kanics, 2003; Wong et al., 2011), lower olfactory threshold (Comoglu et al., 2015; Cuevas et al., 2010), enhanced olfactory discrimination and identification (Cuevas et al., 2010; Renier et al., 2013; Rombaux et al., 2010; Smith et al., 1993) and increased pain sensitivity to cutaneous thermal stimuli (Slimani et al, 2014; Slimani et al., 2015). In line with the brain abilities to adapt to sensory deprivation, several studies indicate that behavioural adaptations in the blind are generally supported by functional and structural brain plasticity (Kupers & Ptito, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structural brain plasticity induced by early blindness

Touj

Gallino

Chakravarty

et al. 2020

Eur J of Neuroscience

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It is well established that early blindness results in behavioural adaptations. While the functional effects of visual deprivation have been well researched, anatomical studies are scarce. The aim of this study was to investigate whole brain structural plasticity in a mouse model of congenital blindness. Volumetric analyses were conducted on high‐resolution MRI images and histological sections from the same brains. These morphometric measurements were compared between anophthalmic and sighted ZRDBA mice obtained by breeding ZRDCT and DBA mice. Results from MRI analyses using the Multiple Automatically Generated Templates (MAGeT) method showed smaller volume for the primary visual cortex and superior colliculi in anophthalmic compared with sighted mice. Deformation‐based morphometry revealed smaller volumes within the dorsal lateral geniculate nuclei and the lateral secondary visual cortex and larger volumes within olfactory areas, piriform cortex, orbital areas and the amygdala, in anophthalmic compared with sighted mice. Histological analyses revealed a larger volume for the amygdala and smaller volume for the superior colliculi, primary visual cortex and medial secondary visual cortex, in anophthalmic compared with sighted mice. The absence of superficial visual layers of the superior colliculus and the thinner cortical layer IV of the primary and secondary visual cortices may explain the smaller volume of these areas, although this was observed in a limited sample. The present study shows large‐scale brain plasticity in a mouse model of congenital blindness. In addition, the congruence of MRI and histological findings support the use of MRI to investigate structural brain plasticity in the mouse.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structural brain plasticity induced by early blindness

Touj

Gallino

Chakravarty

et al. 2020

Eur J of Neuroscience

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“…This enhanced pain perception persisted for several days, indicating that visual deprivation‐induced long‐lasting changes. More recent studies reported that congenitally blind individuals show thermal pain hypersensitivity compared with sighted individuals (Slimani et al., 2013, 2015). In contrast to the earlier study (Zubek et al., 1964), pain hypersensitivity was not observed in individuals with late‐onset blindness (Slimani et al., 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early and late visual deprivation induce hypersensitivity to mechanical and thermal noxious stimuli in the ZRDBA mouse

Touj

Paquette

Bronchti

et al. 2021

European Journal of Pain

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Background Visual deprivation leads to behavioural adaptations. Early visual deprivation has greater effects on sensory systems compared with late visual deprivation. Although this has been well studied, the impact of visual deprivation on pain sensitivity has scarcely been investigated. In humans, one study indicates that pain sensitivity is increased in early, but not late‐onset blindness. In animals, one study indicates that sensitivity to noxious stimulation is increased in anophthalmic mice, but the impact of late visual deprivation on sensitivity remains unknown. The aim of this behavioural study was to examine sensitivity to noxious stimulation in mice with early and late visual deprivation. We hypothesized that visual deprivation would have different effects on sensitivity to noxious stimulation depending on its onset. Methods In Experiment 1, mechanical and thermal sensitivity was examined in four ZRDBA mouse groups: sighted mice, anophthalmic mice, dark‐reared sighted mice and adult sighted mice deprived of vision for one week. In Experiment 2, mechanical and thermal sensitivity was examined in adult sighted ZRDBA mice deprived of vision for two months. Results Anophthalmic and dark‐reared mice showed mechanical and thermal hypersensitivity, while the one‐week visual deprivation did not alter sensitivity. The two‐month deprivation also resulted in mechanical and thermal hypersensitivity. Conclusions These results indicate that early visual deprivation, regardless of the integrity of the visual system, induces hypersensitivity. Moreover, the present findings indicate that late visual deprivation may induce mechanical and thermal hypersensitivity, although this depends on visual deprivation duration. These results have implications for the biological significance of pain in the blind. Significance Sensory deprivation induces behavioural adaptions. For most sensory systems, the extent of these adaptations generally depends on the stage of cerebral development. In contrast, the present results indicate that for the nociceptive system, both early and late visual deprivation have similar effects. Anophthalmic, dark‐reared mice and adult mice deprived of vision for two months showed thermal and mechanical hypersensitivity. This shows a clear interaction between visual and nociceptive systems and has implications for the biological significance of pain in the blind.

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“…This would lead to qualitatively different ways of processing threatening information and perceiving pain. Accordingly, several studies have assumed that early blind people might display differences in their sensitivity to pain as compared to normally sighted individuals (Slimani, Danti, Ptito, & Kupers, 2014;Slimani, Ptito, & Kupers, 2015). However, further reports suggested that hypersensitivity to pain in early blindness might be restricted to changes in the processing of C-fibre inputs (Slimani, Plaghki, Ptito, & Kupers, 2016) and would be related to differences in anxiety levels and attention between blind and sighted participants (Holten-Rossing, Slimani, Ptito, Danti, & Kupers, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing the exteroceptive function of nociception: the role of visual experience in shaping the spatial representations of nociceptive inputs

Vanderclausen

Bourgois

Volder

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Adequately localizing pain is crucial to protect the body against physical damage and react to the stimulus in external space having caused such damage. Accordingly, it is hypothesized that nociceptive inputs are remapped from a somatotopic reference frame, representing the skin surface, towards a spatiotopic frame, representing the body parts in external space. This ability is thought to be developed and shaped by early visual experience. To test this hypothesis, normally sighted and early blind participants performed temporal order judgment tasks during which they judged which of two nociceptive stimuli applied on each hand's dorsum was perceived as first delivered. Crucially, tasks were performed with the hands either in an uncrossed posture or crossed over body midline.While early blinds were not affected by the posture, performances of the normally sighted participants decreased in the crossed condition relative to the uncrossed condition. This indicates that nociceptive stimuli were automatically remapped into a spatiotopic representation that interfered with somatotopy in normally sighted individuals, whereas early blinds seemed to mostly rely on a somatotopic representation to localize nociceptive inputs. Accordingly, the plasticity of the nociceptive system would not purely depend on bodily experiences but also on crossmodal interactions between nociception and vision during early sensory experience.

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Enhanced heat discrimination in congenital blindness

Cited by 19 publications

References 28 publications

Structural brain plasticity induced by early blindness

Structural brain plasticity induced by early blindness

Early and late visual deprivation induce hypersensitivity to mechanical and thermal noxious stimuli in the ZRDBA mouse

Testing the exteroceptive function of nociception: the role of visual experience in shaping the spatial representations of nociceptive inputs

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