{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,17]],"date-time":"2026-10-17T15:49:41Z","timestamp":1792252181436,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":60,"publisher":"National Academy of Sciences","issue":"11","content-domain":{"domain":["www.pnas.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2011,3,15]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Humans are thought to have evolved brain regions in the left frontal and temporal cortex that are uniquely capable of language processing. However, congenitally blind individuals also activate the visual cortex in some verbal tasks. We provide evidence that this visual cortex activity in fact reflects language processing. We find that in congenitally blind individuals, the left visual cortex behaves similarly to classic language regions: (\n                    <jats:italic>i<\/jats:italic>\n                    ) BOLD signal is higher during sentence comprehension than during linguistically degraded control conditions that are more difficult; (\n                    <jats:italic>ii<\/jats:italic>\n                    ) BOLD signal is modulated by phonological information, lexical semantic information, and sentence-level combinatorial structure; and (\n                    <jats:italic>iii<\/jats:italic>\n                    ) functional connectivity with language regions in the left prefrontal cortex and thalamus are increased relative to sighted individuals. We conclude that brain regions that are thought to have evolved for vision can take on language processing as a result of early experience. Innate microcircuit properties are not necessary for a brain region to become involved in language processing.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1014818108","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2011,3,1]],"date-time":"2011-03-01T22:35:37Z","timestamp":1299018937000},"page":"4429-4434","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.cm10313","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":394,"title":["Language processing in the occipital cortex of congenitally blind adults"],"prefix":"10.1073","volume":"108","author":[{"given":"Marina","family":"Bedny","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139; and"},{"name":"Berenson-Allen Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alvaro","family":"Pascual-Leone","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Berenson-Allen Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"David","family":"Dodell-Feder","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139; and"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Evelina","family":"Fedorenko","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139; and"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rebecca","family":"Saxe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139; and"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"341","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2011,2,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_3_1_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/3964.001.0001","volume-title":"An Invitation to Cognitive Science","author":"Gleitman L","year":"1995","unstructured":"L Gleitman, E Newport An Invitation to Cognitive Science, eds L Gleitman, M Liberman (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA), pp. 1\u201324 (1995)."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_2_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.0509306102"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_3_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.877567"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_4_2","volume-title":"Language and Experience: Evidence from the Blind Child","author":"Landau B","year":"1985","unstructured":"B Landau, L Gleitman Language and Experience: Evidence from the Blind Child (Harvard Univ Press, Cambridge, MA, 1985)."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_5_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0896-6273(00)80759-X"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_6_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tics.2008.07.010"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_7_2","first-page":"330","article-title":"Notes on the seat of the faculty of articulate language, followed by an observation of aphemia (Translated from French)","volume":"6","author":"Broca P","year":"1861","unstructured":"P Broca, Notes on the seat of the faculty of articulate language, followed by an observation of aphemia (Translated from French). Bull Soc Anat Paris 6, 330\u2013357 (1861).","journal-title":"Bull Soc Anat Paris"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_8_2","volume-title":"Der Aphasische Symptomencomplex","author":"Wernicke C","year":"1874","unstructured":"C Wernicke Der Aphasische Symptomencomplex, eds RS Cohen, MW Wartofsky (Max Cohn and Weigert, Breslau, Germany, trans (1969) Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science (Reidel, Dordrecht, The Netherlands), 4 (German). (1874)."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_9_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cognition.2005.02.005"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_10_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.298.5598.1569"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_11_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/e412952005-009"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_12_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.0810928106"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_13_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nature01025"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_14_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S1364-6613(03)00136-0"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_15_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tics.2009.10.003"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_16_2","first-page":"171","article-title":"The anatomy of language revisited","volume":"30","author":"Aboitiz F","year":"1997","unstructured":"F Aboitiz, R Garc\u00eda, The anatomy of language revisited. Biol Res 30, 171\u2013183 (1997).","journal-title":"Biol Res"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_17_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"214","DOI":"10.1093\/oso\/9780195121933.003.0010","volume-title":"The Changing Nervous System: Neurobehavioral Consequences of Early Brain Disorders","author":"Bates E","year":"1999","unstructured":"E Bates The Changing Nervous System: Neurobehavioral Consequences of Early Brain Disorders (Oxford Univ Press, New York), pp. 214\u2013253 (1999)."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_18_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bandl.2004.02.006"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_19_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1006\/nimg.2002.1108"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_20_2","volume-title":"The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature","author":"Pinker S","year":"2002","unstructured":"S Pinker The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature (Penguin, New York, 2002)."},{"key":"e_1_3_3_21_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/380526a0"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_22_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/brain\/121.3.409"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_23_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/1531-8249(199904)45:4<451::AID-ANA6>3.0.CO;2-B"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_24_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1152\/jn.00129.2002"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_25_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1523\/JNEUROSCI.23-10-04005.2003"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_26_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nn1072"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_27_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/38278"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_28_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nn1328"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_29_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/00001756-200002070-00003"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_30_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1046\/j.1440-1819.2003.01105.x"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_31_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/22106"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_32_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/cercor\/bhi026"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_33_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0010-9452(08)70379-4"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_34_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0166-2236(98)01260-0"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_35_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1046\/j.1460-9568.2002.02147.x"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_36_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1152\/jn.00032.2010"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_37_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cognition.2003.11.002"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_38_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev.psych.54.101601.145201"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_39_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nn1075"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_40_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1006\/brcg.1999.1101"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_41_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1152\/jn.00279.2003"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_42_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0896-6273(04)00147-3"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_43_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuroimage.2007.12.020"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_44_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s10548-009-0075-8"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_45_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1686","DOI":"10.1002\/hbm.20966","article-title":"Working memory for vibrotactile frequencies: Comparison of cortical activity in blind and sighted individuals","volume":"31","author":"Burton H","year":"2010","unstructured":"H Burton, RJ Sinclair, S Dixit, Working memory for vibrotactile frequencies: Comparison of cortical activity in blind and sighted individuals. Hum Brain Mapp 31, 1686\u20131701 (2010).","journal-title":"Hum Brain Mapp"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_46_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1523\/JNEUROSCI.2353-05.2006"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_47_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.conb.2005.03.006"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_48_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev.neuro.24.1.167"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_49_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tics.2005.07.004"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_50_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/S0140525X00002399"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_51_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/35009102"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_52_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/35009043"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_53_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3758\/CABN.4.2.117"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_54_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1523\/JNEUROSCI.22-13-05749.2002"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_55_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cub.2010.09.044"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_56_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nrn1605"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_57_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuroimage.2007.02.037"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_58_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/hbm.1058"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_59_2","article-title":"Syntactic processing in the human brain: What we know, what we don't know, and a suggestion for how to proceed","author":"Fedorenko E","unstructured":"E Fedorenko, A Nieto-Castanon, N Kanwisher, Syntactic processing in the human brain: What we know, what we don't know, and a suggestion for how to proceed. Brain Lang, in press.","journal-title":"Brain Lang"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_60_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuroimage.2007.04.042"}],"container-title":["Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/pnas.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.1073\/pnas.1014818108","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2024,4,4]],"date-time":"2024-04-04T13:46:38Z","timestamp":1712238398000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/pnas.org\/doi\/full\/10.1073\/pnas.1014818108"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2011,2,28]]},"references-count":60,"journal-issue":{"issue":"11","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2011,3,15]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1073\/pnas.1014818108"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.1014818108","relation":{},"ISSN":["0027-8424","1091-6490"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0027-8424","type":"print"},{"value":"1091-6490","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2011,2,28]]},"assertion":[{"value":"2011-02-28","order":2,"name":"published","label":"Published","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}}]}}