Changed crossmodal functional connectivity in older adults with hearing loss
Sebastian Puschmann1, Christiane M Thiel2
1Biological Psychology Lab, Department of Psychology, Cluster of Excellence "Hearing4all", European Medical School, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany.
Summary
Hearing loss in older adults alters brain connectivity. This study shows increased connections between auditory and visual areas, suggesting crossmodal plasticity impacts sensory processing.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Auditory and Visual Processing
- Sensory Plasticity
Background:
- Deaf individuals exhibit crossmodal reorganization in the auditory cortex, responding more to non-auditory stimuli.
- Crossmodal adaptive plasticity may also occur in older adults with high-frequency hearing loss, affecting audiovisual processing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of hearing loss on auditory cortex responses and functional connectivity in older adults during audiovisual processing.
- To examine task-dependent and task-independent changes in sensory cortex coupling related to hearing loss.
Main Methods:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to study older adults with varying degrees of high-frequency hearing loss.
- Participants performed an auditory stimulus categorization task with auditory-only, visual-only, and audiovisual stimuli (tones and visual motion).
- Resting-state functional connectivity was also assessed.
Main Results:
- No significant effect of hearing status on auditory cortex responses to auditory, visual, or audiovisual stimuli was found.
- A significant hearing loss-related increase in functional connectivity between auditory cortex and the right motion-sensitive visual area MT+ was observed during matching audiovisual input.
- Hearing loss modulated resting-state connectivity between MT+ and the left auditory cortex, indicating permanent changes.
Conclusions:
- Hearing loss in older adults influences functional connectivity between auditory and visual sensory cortices.
- The findings suggest that high-frequency hearing loss can induce crossmodal plasticity affecting audiovisual integration in aging brains.
Keywords:
Crossmodal plasticityFunctional connectivityMultisensory integrationNeuroimagingPresbycusisMore Related Videos
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