Topographical functional connectivity patterns exist in the congenitally, prelingually deaf.

ABSTRACT: Congenital deafness causes large changes in the auditory cortex structure and function, such that without early childhood cochlear-implant, profoundly deaf children do not develop intact, high-level, auditory functions. But how is auditory cortex organization affected by congenital, prelingual, and long standing deafness? Does the large-scale topographical organization of the auditory cortex develop in people deaf from birth? And is it retained despite cross-modal plasticity? We identified, using fMRI, topographic tonotopy-based functional connectivity (FC) structure in humans in the core auditory cortex, its extending tonotopic gradients in the belt and even beyond that. These regions show similar FC structure in the congenitally deaf throughout the auditory cortex, including in the langu

SUBMITTER: Striem-Amit E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4947901 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature