Abstract
The current study sought to investigate the effects of short-term (two-hour) visual deprivation on proprioception mediated movement planning/control and the associated cerebral blood flow (CBFv). In Experiment 1, visual deprivation was used to differentiate proprioception from vision by having participants perform a series of grasping tasks, both prior to and post deprivation. Participants were instructed to grasp a target under both vision and no-vision conditions while kinematic measurements were obtained. During visual deprivation, subjects participated in tactile discrimination tasks to promote proprioceptive plasticity. In Experiment 2, visual deprivation was used to determine how the neurovascular system responds to such deprivation. Transcranaial Doppler (TCD) ultrasound was used to attain CBFv measures for both the posterior cerebral artery (PCA) and the middle cerebral artery (MCA); neurovascular coupling protocols were used pre/post deprivation. Experiment 1 indicated augmented use of proprioception for motor planning, but less so for motor control of reaching and grasping strategies following acute visual deprivation. Experiment 2 indicated dramatic changes in CBFv, in both cerebral arteries, during and post deprivation, suggesting the brain undergoes a series of haemodynamic changes when vision is deprived.These results conform to findings that sensory deprivation is associated with plasticity and behavioral changes (Merabet &Pascual-Leone, 2010).Acknowledgments: NSERC, CFI, BCKDF