Decreased scene-selective activity within the posterior intraparietal cortex in amblyopic adults
IntroductionAmblyopia is a developmental disorder associated with reduced performance in visually guided tasks, including binocular navigation within natural environments. To help understand the underlying neurological disorder, we used fMRI to test the impact of amblyopia on the functional organiza...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2025.1527148/full |
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| author | Sarala N. Malladi Jan Skerswetat Marianna E. Schmidt Marianna E. Schmidt Roger B. H. Tootell Roger B. H. Tootell Eric D. Gaier Eric D. Gaier Eric D. Gaier Peter J. Bex David G. Hunter Shahin Nasr Shahin Nasr |
| author_facet | Sarala N. Malladi Jan Skerswetat Marianna E. Schmidt Marianna E. Schmidt Roger B. H. Tootell Roger B. H. Tootell Eric D. Gaier Eric D. Gaier Eric D. Gaier Peter J. Bex David G. Hunter Shahin Nasr Shahin Nasr |
| author_sort | Sarala N. Malladi |
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| description | IntroductionAmblyopia is a developmental disorder associated with reduced performance in visually guided tasks, including binocular navigation within natural environments. To help understand the underlying neurological disorder, we used fMRI to test the impact of amblyopia on the functional organization of scene-selective cortical areas, including the posterior intraparietal gyrus scene-selective (PIGS) area, a recently discovered region that responds selectively to ego-motion within naturalistic environments.MethodsNineteen amblyopic adults (10 females) and thirty age-matched controls (15 females) participated in this study. Amblyopic participants spanned a wide range of amblyopia severity, based on their interocular visual acuity difference and stereoacuity. The visual function questionnaire (VFQ-39) was used to assess the participants’ perception of their visual capabilities.ResultsCompared to controls, we found weaker scene-selective activity within the PIGS area in amblyopic individuals. By contrast, the level of scene-selective activity across the occipital place area (OPA), parahippocampal place area (PPA), and retrosplenial cortex (RSC) remained comparable between amblyopic and control participants. The participants’ scores on “general vision” (VFQ-39 subscale) correlated with the level of scene-selective activity in PIGS.DiscussionThese results provide novel and direct evidence for the impact of amblyopia on scene processing within the human brain, thus enabling future studies to potentially link these changes across the spectrum of documented disabilities in amblyopia. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-42ad3894de694def968aeb7300a32039 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1662-453X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
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| series | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj-art-42ad3894de694def968aeb7300a320392025-08-20T02:00:29ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neuroscience1662-453X2025-02-011910.3389/fnins.2025.15271481527148Decreased scene-selective activity within the posterior intraparietal cortex in amblyopic adultsSarala N. Malladi0Jan Skerswetat1Marianna E. Schmidt2Marianna E. Schmidt3Roger B. H. Tootell4Roger B. H. Tootell5Eric D. Gaier6Eric D. Gaier7Eric D. Gaier8Peter J. Bex9David G. Hunter10Shahin Nasr11Shahin Nasr12Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United StatesDepartment of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, GermanyMax Planck School of Cognition, Leipzig, GermanyAthinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United StatesDepartment of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United StatesDepartment of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United StatesDepartment of Ophthalmology, Boston’s Children Hospital, Boston, MA, United StatesPicower Institute for Learning and Memory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United StatesDepartment of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United StatesAthinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United StatesDepartment of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United StatesIntroductionAmblyopia is a developmental disorder associated with reduced performance in visually guided tasks, including binocular navigation within natural environments. To help understand the underlying neurological disorder, we used fMRI to test the impact of amblyopia on the functional organization of scene-selective cortical areas, including the posterior intraparietal gyrus scene-selective (PIGS) area, a recently discovered region that responds selectively to ego-motion within naturalistic environments.MethodsNineteen amblyopic adults (10 females) and thirty age-matched controls (15 females) participated in this study. Amblyopic participants spanned a wide range of amblyopia severity, based on their interocular visual acuity difference and stereoacuity. The visual function questionnaire (VFQ-39) was used to assess the participants’ perception of their visual capabilities.ResultsCompared to controls, we found weaker scene-selective activity within the PIGS area in amblyopic individuals. By contrast, the level of scene-selective activity across the occipital place area (OPA), parahippocampal place area (PPA), and retrosplenial cortex (RSC) remained comparable between amblyopic and control participants. The participants’ scores on “general vision” (VFQ-39 subscale) correlated with the level of scene-selective activity in PIGS.DiscussionThese results provide novel and direct evidence for the impact of amblyopia on scene processing within the human brain, thus enabling future studies to potentially link these changes across the spectrum of documented disabilities in amblyopia.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2025.1527148/fullfMRIamblyopiascene perceptionintraparietal cortexstrabismusanisometropia |
| spellingShingle | Sarala N. Malladi Jan Skerswetat Marianna E. Schmidt Marianna E. Schmidt Roger B. H. Tootell Roger B. H. Tootell Eric D. Gaier Eric D. Gaier Eric D. Gaier Peter J. Bex David G. Hunter Shahin Nasr Shahin Nasr Decreased scene-selective activity within the posterior intraparietal cortex in amblyopic adults Frontiers in Neuroscience fMRI amblyopia scene perception intraparietal cortex strabismus anisometropia |
| title | Decreased scene-selective activity within the posterior intraparietal cortex in amblyopic adults |
| title_full | Decreased scene-selective activity within the posterior intraparietal cortex in amblyopic adults |
| title_fullStr | Decreased scene-selective activity within the posterior intraparietal cortex in amblyopic adults |
| title_full_unstemmed | Decreased scene-selective activity within the posterior intraparietal cortex in amblyopic adults |
| title_short | Decreased scene-selective activity within the posterior intraparietal cortex in amblyopic adults |
| title_sort | decreased scene selective activity within the posterior intraparietal cortex in amblyopic adults |
| topic | fMRI amblyopia scene perception intraparietal cortex strabismus anisometropia |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2025.1527148/full |
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