It seems intuitive to me that visual centers of the brain don't develop properly in the absence of visual stimulation. Has anybody done fMRIs to compare congenitally blind people with those who became blind later in life? Also it begs the question: which blind person with schizophrenia became blind at the youngest age?
it would be interesting to know if anyone has compared activity in visual cortex in schizophrenics having auditory vs visual vs olfactory vs tactile hallucinations to controls.
A quick search shows "hyperconnectivity" has been found betwen the amygdala and visual cortex in those with visual hallucinations.
There have been instances of blind from birth people creating great drawings. Their visual center must be working somehow to imagine and draw things they can't see.
No, a big clump of neurons in that area is innate. When hooked up to functioning eyes, what we call the “visual cortex” develops in the vast majority of sighted people. If it were truly innate, babies would be born with fully functioning visual processing centers, which they are not.
There is also every reason to suspect this doesn’t happen in congenitally blind individuals, where the visual feedback loop is not available during neural development.
fair point, I think you are right.
But I think that things that are innate doesn't have to be fully developed in babies. Puberty is also innate but develops in teenagers
Or that part of the brain is adapted for other uses. We cannot imagine what it's like to be congenitally blind... the world would be extremely different.
