The acts of opening and closing the eyes are of importance for congenital blindness: Evidence from resting-state fMRI
Volitional eye closure is observed only in conscious and awake humans, and is rare in animals. It is believed that eye closure can focus one's attention inward and facilitate activities such as meditation and mental imagery. Congenital blind individuals are also required to close their eyes for...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2021-06-01
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| Series: | NeuroImage |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811921002433 |
| _version_ | 1818590546084495360 |
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| author | Yi-Xuan Feng Ren-Yuan Li Wei Wei Zi-Jian Feng Yun-Kai Sun Hai-Yang Sun Yi-Yuan Tang Yu-Feng Zang Ke Yao |
| author_facet | Yi-Xuan Feng Ren-Yuan Li Wei Wei Zi-Jian Feng Yun-Kai Sun Hai-Yang Sun Yi-Yuan Tang Yu-Feng Zang Ke Yao |
| author_sort | Yi-Xuan Feng |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Volitional eye closure is observed only in conscious and awake humans, and is rare in animals. It is believed that eye closure can focus one's attention inward and facilitate activities such as meditation and mental imagery. Congenital blind individuals are also required to close their eyes for these activities. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (RS-fMRI) studies have found robust differences between the eyes-closed (EC) and eyes-open (EO) conditions in some brain regions in the sighted. This study analyzed data from 21 congenital blind individuals and 21 sighted controls by using amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) of RS-fMRI. The blind group and the sighted group shared similar pattern of differences between the EC and EO condition: ALFF was higher in the EC condition than the EO condition in the bilateral primary sensorimotor cortex, bilateral supplementary motor area, and inferior occipital cortex, while ALFF was lower in the EC condition than the EO condition in the medial prefrontal cortex, highlighting the “nature” effect on the difference between the EC and EO conditions. The results of other matrices such as fractional ALFF (fALFF) and regional homogeneity (ReHo) showed similar patterns to that of ALFF. Moreover, no significant difference was observed between the EC-EO pattern of the two subgroups of congenital blind (i.e., with and without light perception), suggesting that the EC-EO difference is irrespective of residual light perception which reinforced the “nature” effect. We also found between-group differences, i.e., more probably “nurture effect”, in the posterior insula and fusiform. Our results suggest that the acts of closing and opening the eyes are of importance for the congenital blind, and that these actions and their differences might be inherent in the nature of humans. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-16T09:58:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-acff023e3d004024b3a48eefcc278b7c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1095-9572 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-16T09:58:15Z |
| publishDate | 2021-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | NeuroImage |
| spelling | doaj.art-acff023e3d004024b3a48eefcc278b7c2022-12-21T22:35:51ZengElsevierNeuroImage1095-95722021-06-01233117966The acts of opening and closing the eyes are of importance for congenital blindness: Evidence from resting-state fMRIYi-Xuan Feng0Ren-Yuan Li1Wei Wei2Zi-Jian Feng3Yun-Kai Sun4Hai-Yang Sun5Yi-Yuan Tang6Yu-Feng Zang7Ke Yao8Eye Center of the 2nd Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310009, Zhejiang Province, China; Zhejiang Provincial Key Lab of Ophthalmology, Hangzhou 310009, Zhejiang Province, ChinaInterdisciplinary Institute of Neuroscience and Technology, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310000, China; Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, The Affiliated Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310000, ChinaCenter for Cognition and Brain Disorders, The Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310015, Zhejiang, China; Institutes of Psychological Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, Zhejiang, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou 311121, Zhejiang, ChinaCenter for Cognition and Brain Disorders, The Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310015, Zhejiang, China; Institutes of Psychological Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, Zhejiang, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou 311121, Zhejiang, ChinaCenter for Cognition and Brain Disorders, The Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310015, Zhejiang, China; Institutes of Psychological Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, Zhejiang, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou 311121, Zhejiang, ChinaCenter for Cognition and Brain Disorders, The Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310015, Zhejiang, China; Institutes of Psychological Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, Zhejiang, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou 311121, Zhejiang, ChinaDepartment of Psychological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USACenter for Cognition and Brain Disorders, The Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310015, Zhejiang, China; Institutes of Psychological Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, Zhejiang, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou 311121, Zhejiang, China; Corresponding author at: Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders, The Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310015, Zhejiang, China.Eye Center of the 2nd Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310009, Zhejiang Province, China; Zhejiang Provincial Key Lab of Ophthalmology, Hangzhou 310009, Zhejiang Province, China; Corresponding author at: Eye Center of the 2nd Affiliated Hospital, Medical College of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310009, Zhejiang Province, China.Volitional eye closure is observed only in conscious and awake humans, and is rare in animals. It is believed that eye closure can focus one's attention inward and facilitate activities such as meditation and mental imagery. Congenital blind individuals are also required to close their eyes for these activities. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (RS-fMRI) studies have found robust differences between the eyes-closed (EC) and eyes-open (EO) conditions in some brain regions in the sighted. This study analyzed data from 21 congenital blind individuals and 21 sighted controls by using amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) of RS-fMRI. The blind group and the sighted group shared similar pattern of differences between the EC and EO condition: ALFF was higher in the EC condition than the EO condition in the bilateral primary sensorimotor cortex, bilateral supplementary motor area, and inferior occipital cortex, while ALFF was lower in the EC condition than the EO condition in the medial prefrontal cortex, highlighting the “nature” effect on the difference between the EC and EO conditions. The results of other matrices such as fractional ALFF (fALFF) and regional homogeneity (ReHo) showed similar patterns to that of ALFF. Moreover, no significant difference was observed between the EC-EO pattern of the two subgroups of congenital blind (i.e., with and without light perception), suggesting that the EC-EO difference is irrespective of residual light perception which reinforced the “nature” effect. We also found between-group differences, i.e., more probably “nurture effect”, in the posterior insula and fusiform. Our results suggest that the acts of closing and opening the eyes are of importance for the congenital blind, and that these actions and their differences might be inherent in the nature of humans.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811921002433Eyes-closedEyes-openResting-state functional magnetic resonance imagingCongenital blindness |
| spellingShingle | Yi-Xuan Feng Ren-Yuan Li Wei Wei Zi-Jian Feng Yun-Kai Sun Hai-Yang Sun Yi-Yuan Tang Yu-Feng Zang Ke Yao The acts of opening and closing the eyes are of importance for congenital blindness: Evidence from resting-state fMRI NeuroImage Eyes-closed Eyes-open Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging Congenital blindness |
| title | The acts of opening and closing the eyes are of importance for congenital blindness: Evidence from resting-state fMRI |
| title_full | The acts of opening and closing the eyes are of importance for congenital blindness: Evidence from resting-state fMRI |
| title_fullStr | The acts of opening and closing the eyes are of importance for congenital blindness: Evidence from resting-state fMRI |
| title_full_unstemmed | The acts of opening and closing the eyes are of importance for congenital blindness: Evidence from resting-state fMRI |
| title_short | The acts of opening and closing the eyes are of importance for congenital blindness: Evidence from resting-state fMRI |
| title_sort | acts of opening and closing the eyes are of importance for congenital blindness evidence from resting state fmri |
| topic | Eyes-closed Eyes-open Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging Congenital blindness |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811921002433 |
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