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Updated: Jun 22, 2026
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Assessment of Audio-Tactile Sensory Substitution Training in Participants with Profound Deafness Using the Event-Related Potential Technique
Published on: September 7, 2022
Speech experience shapes the speechreading network and subsequent deafness facilitates it
Myung-Whan Suh1, Hyo-Jeong Lee, June Sic Kim
1Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Yongon-Dong, Chongno-Gu, Seoul, South Korea.
Brain : a Journal of Neurology
|June 18, 2009
Summary
Auditory experience is crucial for speechreading neural networks. Postlingual deafness enhances speechreading efficiency by speeding neural responses, unlike prelingual deafness.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Auditory Neuroscience
- Speech Perception
Background:
- Speechreading is a vital visual communication skill.
- Deafness impacts the neural basis of speechreading.
- Understanding how auditory experience shapes the speechreading network is essential.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of prelingual and postlingual deafness on the neural network underlying speechreading.
- To determine the role of auditory experience in the development and efficiency of speechreading abilities.
Main Methods:
- Magnetoencephalography (MEG) was used to record cerebral cortex activity in normal hearing controls, prelingual deaf, and postlingual deaf individuals.
- Subjects performed a speechreading task involving visual perception of syllables.
- Neural sources were modeled using equivalent current dipoles fitted to individual MRI data.
Main Results:
- Postlingual deaf individuals showed shorter auditory cortex activation latency compared to normal hearing controls, correlating negatively with speechreading scores.
- Increased duration of deafness led to exponentially decreased auditory cortex activation latency.
- Prelingual deaf individuals exhibited significantly longer auditory cortex activation latency and did not show the same correlations, indicating a distinct neural network.
Conclusions:
- Auditory experience is critical for the normal development of the speechreading neural network.
- In postlingual deafness, the existing speechreading network becomes more efficient due to accelerated neural responses.
- Prelingual deafness results in a significantly different neural processing pattern for speechreading compared to hearing or postlingual deaf individuals.
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