Please cite this article in press as: Ricciardi, E., et al., Mind the blind brain to understand the sighted one! Is there a supramodal cortical functional architecture? Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.10.006 ARTICLE IN PRESS G Model NBR-1851; No. of Pages 14 Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews xxx (2013) xxx–xxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews j ourna l ho me pa ge: www.elsevier.com/locate/neubiorev Review Mind the blind brain to understand the sighted one! Is there a supramodal cortical functional architecture? Emiliano Ricciardi a,b , Daniela Bonino a , Silvia Pellegrini a , Pietro Pietrini a,b,c,* a Laboratory of Clinical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Department of Surgery, Medical, Molecular, and Critical Area Pathology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy b Research Center ‘E. Piaggio’, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy c Clinical Psychology Branch, Pisa University Hospital, Pisa, Italy a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 5 April 2013 Received in revised form 13 August 2013 Accepted 3 October 2013 Keywords: Blindness Supramodality Cross-modal plasticity Brain imaging Brain functional architecture Mental representation Action recognition a b s t r a c t While most of the research in blind individuals classically has focused on the compensatory plastic rearrangements that follow loss of sight, novel behavioral, anatomical and functional brain studies in individuals born deprived of sight represent a powerful tool to understand to what extent the brain func- tional architecture is programmed to develop independently from any visual experience. Here we review work from our lab and others, conducted in sighted and congenitally blind individuals, whose results indi- cate that vision is not a mandatory prerequisite for the brain cortical organization to develop and function. Similar cortical networks subtend visual and/or non-visual perception of form, space and movement, as well as action recognition, both in sighted and in congenitally blind individuals. These findings support the hypothesis of a modality independent, supramodal cortical organization. Visual experience, however, does play a role in shaping specific cortical sub-regions, as loss of sight is accompanied also by cross-modal plastic phenomena. Altogether, studying the blind brain is opening our eyes on how the brain develops and works. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Contents 1. Is vision the only way “to see”? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00 2. To what extent is vision really necessary for the human brain to develop and function? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00 2.1. Supramodal cortical organization subtends a more abstract representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00 2.2. How do neocortical (visual) areas develop? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00 2.3. Toward a truly supramodal processing of information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00 2.4. Is supramodality a cortical or a neuronal property? Supramodality versus multisensoriality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00 3. Which is the fate of unisensory “visual” brain areas in congenitally blind individuals? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00 3.1. The specificity of cross-modal plastic reorganization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00 3.2. Supramodal, cross-modal and multisensory: mind the difference! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00 3.3. Where in the occipital cortex? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00 4. Which neural pathways may subserve non-visual responses in the “visual” cortex? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00 5. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00 1. Is vision the only way “to see”? When observing a blind individual, people may find them- selves wonder whether that person is really visually-deprived. * Corresponding author at: Laboratory of Clinical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Pisa, Via Roma 67, I-56126, Pisa, Italy. Tel.: +39 050 993951; fax: +39 050 993556. E-mail address: pietro.pietrini@med.unipi.it (P. Pietrini). Indeed, individuals who lack vision are proficient in everyday’s life activities, are able to interact efficiently with the surround- ing objects and tools, move independently in space, and interact socially with others. Although vision offers distinctive informa- tion, several observations indicate that the lack of visual experience may have just limited effects on the perception and mental rep- resentation of the surrounding world. As a matter of fact, some blind individuals may even excel in activities that would be con- sidered strictly visual: Esref Armagan (www.armagan.com/), John 0149-7634/$ – see front matter © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.10.006