Biomedical MR Imaging and Spectroscopy Group, Center for Image Sciences, University Medical Center Utrecht and Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Biomedical MR Imaging and Spectroscopy Group, Center for Image Sciences, University Medical Center Utrecht and Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Hear Res. 2019 Mar 1;373:32-47. doi: 10.1016/j.heares.2018.12.006. Epub 2018 Dec 15.
Prolonged auditory sensory deprivation leads to brain reorganization. This is indicated by functional enhancement in remaining sensory systems and known as cross-modal plasticity. In this study we investigated differences in functional brain network topology between deaf and hearing individuals. We also studied altered functional network responses between deaf and hearing individuals with a recording paradigm containing an eyes-closed and eyes-open condition. Electroencephalography activity was recorded in a group of sign language-trained deaf (N = 71) and hearing people (N = 122) living in rural Africa. Functional brain networks were constructed from the functional connectivity between fourteen electrodes distributed over the scalp. Functional connectivity was quantified with the phase lag index based on bandpass filtered epochs of brain signal. We studied the functional connectivity between the auditory, somatosensory and visual cortex and performed whole-brain minimum spanning tree analysis to capture network backbone characteristics. Functional connectivity between different regions involved in sensory information processing tended to be stronger in deaf people during the eyes-closed condition in both the alpha and beta frequency band. Furthermore, we found differences in functional backbone topology between deaf and hearing individuals. The backbone topology altered during transition from the eyes-closed to eyes-open condition irrespective of deafness, but was more pronounced in deaf individuals. The transition of backbone strength was different between individuals with congenital, pre-lingual or post-lingual deafness. Functional backbone characteristics correlated with the experience of sign language. Overall, our study revealed more insights in functional network reorganization caused by auditory deprivation and cross-modal plasticity. It further supports the idea of a brain plasticity potential in deaf and hearing people. The association between network organization and acquired sign language experience reflects the ability of ongoing brain adaptation in people with hearing disabilities.
长期的听觉感觉剥夺会导致大脑重组。这表现在剩余感觉系统的功能增强，即跨模态可塑性。在这项研究中，我们调查了聋人和听力正常者之间功能大脑网络拓扑结构的差异。我们还研究了使用包含闭眼和睁眼条件的记录范式，聋人和听力正常者之间的功能网络反应的变化。脑电图活动在一群使用手语的聋人（N=71）和居住在非洲农村的听力正常者（N=122）中进行了记录。功能大脑网络是从头皮上分布的 14 个电极之间的功能连接构建的。功能连接是通过基于脑信号带通滤波的相位滞后指数来量化的。我们研究了听觉、躯体感觉和视觉皮层之间的功能连接，并进行了全脑最小生成树分析，以捕捉网络骨干特征。在闭眼状态下，聋人在 alpha 和 beta 频段中，不同感觉信息处理区域之间的功能连接往往更强。此外，我们发现聋人和听力正常者之间的功能骨干拓扑存在差异。无论耳聋与否，从闭眼到睁眼状态的转变都会改变骨干拓扑，但在聋人中更为明显。从先天性、语言前或语言后耳聋的个体中，骨干强度的转变也不同。功能骨干特征与手语经验相关。总的来说，我们的研究揭示了听觉剥夺和跨模态可塑性引起的功能网络重组的更多见解。它进一步支持了聋人和听力正常者大脑可塑性潜力的观点。网络组织与后天获得的手语经验之间的关联反映了听力障碍人群大脑持续适应的能力。
