Neural Correlates of Reading in Congenitally Blind and Sighted Individuals: The Role of Left vOT

Poster Session E - Monday, March 31, 2025, 2:30 – 4:30 pm EDT, Back Bay Ballroom/Republic Ballroom

Maria Czarnecka^1,2 (mhczarnecka@gmail.com), Florencia Martinez Addiego², Marcin Szwed¹; ¹Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland, ²Georgetown University, Washington DC, US

A key process in reading is the mapping of written symbols to meaning. The left ventral occipitotemporal cortex (vOT) is thought to serve as a crucial interface for this function. This study investigates the factors shaping the development of neural correlates of reading—whether they arise from innate shape sensitivity enhanced by visual experience or from experience-independent mechanisms. To address this, we conducted an fMRI study with 21 congenitally blind and 21 sighted participants, who read words via touch (Braille) or vision (print), respectively. Stimuli were designed to engage different processing levels: low-level (visual for print, spatial for Braille), orthographic, and semantic. Using representational similarity analysis (RSA), we found that both orthographic and semantic processing are present in the left vOT of blind individuals, indicating that this region develops its reading-related role even without visual experience. The main difference between groups emerged at the low-level processing stage: in sighted participants, it was localized in the early visual cortex, whereas in blind participants, it engaged sensorimotor regions. These results show that, despite differences in low-level sensory processing, the role of the left vOT in reading remains consistent regardless of visual experience.

Topic Area: LANGUAGE: Other