Neural representation of self-concept in sighted and congenitally blind adults

摘要

The functional organization of human primary visual and auditory cortices is influenced by sensory experience and exhibitsncross-modal plasticity in the absence of input from one modality. However, it remains debated whether the functionalnarchitecture of the prefrontal cortex, when engaged in social cognitive processes, is shaped by sensory experience. The presentnstudy investigated whether activity in the medial prefrontal cortex underlying self-reflective thinking of one’s own traits isnmodality-specific and whether it undergoes cross-modal plasticity in the absence of visual input. We scanned 47 sightednparticipants and 21 congenitally blind individuals using functional magnetic resonance imaging during trait judgements ofnthe self and a familiar other. Sighted participants showed medial prefrontal activation and enhanced functional connectivitynbetween the medial prefrontal and visual cortices during self-judgements compared to other-judgements on visually but notnaurally presented trait words, indicating that medial prefrontal activity underlying self-representation is visual modality-specificnin sighted people. In contrast, blind individuals showed medial prefrontal activation and enhanced functional connectivitynbetween the medial prefrontal and occipital cortices during self-judgements relative to other-judgements on aurally presentednstimuli, suggesting that visual deprivation leads to functional reorganization of the medial prefrontal cortex so as to be tuned bynauditory inputs during self-referential processing. The medial prefrontal activity predicted memory performances on trait wordsnused for self-judgements in both subject groups, implicating a similar functional role of the medial prefrontal cortex innself-referential processing in sighted and blind individuals. Together, our findings indicate that self-representation in thenmedial prefrontal cortex is strongly shaped by sensory experience..