rTMS of the occipital cortex abolishes Braille reading and repetition priming in blind subjects

Neurology. 2007 Feb 27;68(9):691-3. doi: 10.1212/01.wnl.0000255958.60530.11.

Abstract

To study the functional involvement of the visual cortex in Braille reading, we applied repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over midoccipital (MOC) and primary somatosensory (SI) cortex in blind subjects. After rTMS of MOC, but not SI, subjects made significantly more errors and showed an abolishment of the improvement in reading speed following repetitive presentation of the same word list, suggesting a role of the visual cortex in repetition priming in the blind.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adaptation, Physiological
  • Adult
  • Blindness / physiopathology*
  • Blindness / rehabilitation
  • Cues
  • Evoked Potentials
  • Extinction, Psychological
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Neuronal Plasticity
  • Occipital Lobe / physiopathology*
  • Reading*
  • Sensory Aids*
  • Task Performance and Analysis
  • Touch*
  • Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation / methods*
  • Visual Cortex / physiopathology*