Seeing the Sound After Visual Loss: Functional MRI in Acquired Auditory-visual Synesthesia

Overview

Journal Exp Brain Res

Specialty Neurology

Date 2016 Oct 21

PMID 27761598

Citations 2

Authors

ZiXin Yong

Po-Jang Hsieh

Dan Milea

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Acquired auditory-visual synesthesia (AVS) is a rare neurological sign, in which specific auditory stimulation triggers visual experience. In this study, we used event-related fMRI to explore the brain regions correlated with acquired monocular sound-induced phosphenes, which occurred 2 months after unilateral visual loss due to an ischemic optic neuropathy. During the fMRI session, 1-s pure tones at various pitches were presented to the patient, who was asked to report occurrence of sound-induced phosphenes by pressing one of the two buttons (yes/no). The brain activation during phosphene-experienced trials was contrasted with non-phosphene trials and compared to results obtained in one healthy control subject who underwent the same fMRI protocol. Our results suggest, for the first time, that acquired AVS occurring after visual impairment is associated with bilateral activation of primary and secondary visual cortex, possibly due to cross-wiring between auditory and visual sensory modalities.

Citing Articles

Functional MRI study in a case of Charles Bonnet syndrome related to LHON.

Vacchiano V, Tonon C, Mitolo M, Evangelisti S, Carbonelli M, Liguori R BMC Neurol. 2020; 19(1):350.

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Neurophenomenology of induced and natural synaesthesia.

Schwartzman D, Bor D, Rothen N, Seth A Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2019; 374(1787):20190030.

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