Crossmodal expansion of cortical maps in early blindness

Expansion of maps in the somatosensory cortex of nonhuman primates as a consequence of training and experience has been established for some time (Kaas et al., 1983; Merzenich et al., 1988; Kaas, 1991). Similar results have been obtained within auditory cortex (Recanzone et al., 1993). All these studies have shown the expansion of a cortical map as the result of enhanced experience within the same modality. By contrast, the studies summarized in the following chapter have in common that they describe an expansion of maps in one modality (e.g. the auditory or somatosensory) as a result of deprivation in a different (e.g. the visual) modality.