Link to bioRxiv paper: http://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2020.06.20.162917v1?rss=1 Authors: Bola, L., Yang, H., Caramazza, A., Bi, Y. Abstract: In high-level visual shape areas in the human brain, preference for inanimate objects is observed regardless of stimulation modality (visual/auditory/tactile) and subjects' visual experience (sighted/blind individuals), whereas preference for animate entities seems robust only in the visual modality. Here, we test a hypothesis explaining this effect: visual shape representations can be reliably activated through different sensory modalities only when they systematically map onto action system computations. We studied fMRI activations in congenitally blind and sighted subjects listening to animal, object, and human sounds. We found that face shape areas in blind individuals preferentially respond to human facial expression sounds, with transparent face shape/motor representation mapping, but not to speech or animal sounds. Using face areas' activation, we could distinguish facial expressions from other sounds in both groups. We conclude that auditory stimulation can activate visual shape representation of those stimuli - inanimate or animate - for which shape-action mapping is transparent. Copy rights belong to original authors. Visit the link for more info