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Updated: Mar 28, 2026

Systematic Hearing Performance Evaluation Process for Adolescents with Cochlear Implantation at Early Ages
Published on: March 24, 2023
Early-onset hearing loss reorganizes the visual and auditory network in children without cochlear implantation
Bin Shi1, Li-Zhuang Yang, Ying Liu
1aProvincial Hospital Affiliated to Anhui Medical University bCAS Key Laboratory of Brain Function & Disease, and School of Life Sciences cSchool of Humanities and Social Science dCenters for Biomedical Engineering, University of Science & Technology of China eCenter of Medical Physics and Technology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, CAS, Hefei, Anhui fState Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China gDivision of Speech and Hearing Sciences, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
Abstract:
The present study investigates the effect of early-onset hearing loss on the reorganization of visual and auditory networks in children without cochlear implants. Eleven congenitally deaf children and 12 age-matched hearing children were included in the study. Bilateral transverse temporal cortices and bilateral lateral occipital cortices were defined as auditory and visual seeds, respectively (as verified using an independent component analysis). The four seed-based connectivity maps were computed for each participant. As a result, group analysis showed that the primary auditory cortex was less connected with the motor cortex, whereas the visual cortex showed strengthened connectivity with motor and speech cortices in congenitally deaf children compared with the controls. Moreover, we found that the differences in functional connectivity between deaf and control children were not because of morphometric changes. Our results provide neural evidence for the sensorimotor coupling model of speech development.
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