Altered visual-evoked potentials in congenitally deaf adults.

Visual-evoked potentials recorded from the scalp of congenitally deaf adults were significantly larger over both auditory and visual cortical areas than in normal hearing adults. Over temporal and frontal areas peripheral stimuli presented at long intervals elicited N150 components which were larger in deaf than in hearing subjects. Over occipital and parietal areas peripheral and foveal stimuli elicited larger P230 components in deaf than in hearing subjects. These results imply that early auditory experience influences the organization of the human brain for visual processing.