Related Experiment Videos
Speech lateralization in deaf populations: evidence for a developmental critical period
1Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University Program in Medicine, RI.
Brain and Language
|July 1, 1990
Abstract:
Cerebral lateralization for speech in right-handed normal hearing and deaf adolescents was assessed using the dual-task paradigm. Subjects with normal hearing and deafness acquired after 3 years of age displayed left hemispheric dominance for speech production, whereas both congenitally deaf and those with an early acquired deafness (onset 6-36 months) showed atypical, anomalous cerebral representation. These results suggest the presence of a developmental critical period for cerebral lateralization during which exposure to adequate environmental stimulation may be needed to activate left hemispheric dominance for speech.