Department of Neuroscience

Research Abstract

Our research explores possible reorganization in human cerebral cortex in the presence of sensory aberrations. Combined in these studies are functional brain imaging and behavioral assessments in individuals with some sensory deficit compared to age matched normal controls. Prior studies with people blind from birth showed reorganization in their visual cortex that included extensive cross-modal activation to auditory and tactile stimulation and during memory and language tasks. In the blind we further discovered increased resting state functional connectivity between visual cortex and cognitive control regions in frontal and parietal cortex that possibly reflect behavioral enhancement of working memory and attention in adaption to blindness... read more

Selected Publications

• Burton, H, Snyder, AZ, and Raichle, ME (2014) Resting state functional connectivity in early blind humans. Front Sys Neurosci. 8:51. DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2014.00051.
• Firszt, JB, Reeder, RM, Holden, TA, Burton, H, and Chole, RS (2013) Changes resulting from hearing recovery after extended congenital unilateral hearing loss. Front Sys Neurosci. 7:108. DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2013.00108.
• Burton, H, Firszt, JB, and Holden, T (2013) Hearing thresholds and fMRI of auditory cortex following eighth cranial nerve surgery. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 149(3):492-499. DOI: 10.1177/0194599813495179.
• Roland, JL, Hacker, CD, Breshears, JD, Gaona, CM, Hogan, RE, Burton, H, Corbetta, M, and Leuthardt, EC (2013) Brain mapping in a patient with congenital blindness ─ a case for multimodal approaches. Front Hum Neurosci. 7:431. DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00431.
• Burton H., Firszt J.B., Holden T., Agato, A., and Uchanski R. (2012). Activation lateralization in human core, belt, and parabelt auditory fields with unilateral deafness and normal hearing. Brain Research. 1454:33-47 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2012.02.066.
• Burton H., Sinclair, R.J. and Agato A. (2012). Recognition memory for Braille or spoken words: An fMRI study in early blind. Brain Research. 1438:22-34. DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2011.12.032.