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Updated: Nov 3, 2025
Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations
Published on: July 1, 2015
Altered resting-state functional network connectivity in profound sensorineural hearing loss infants within an early
Shanshan Wang1, Boyu Chen1, Yalian Yu2
1Department of Radiology, The First Hospital, China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China.
Insights
Early hearing loss in children impacts brain development. Infants with sensorineural hearing loss show altered functional connectivity in auditory and salience networks, indicating both loss and reorganization.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Neuroscience
- Auditory Neuroscience
Background:
- The first 2-4 years of life represent a sensitive period for auditory cortex maturation.
- Auditory stimulation during this period significantly influences cortical function development.
- Brain development trajectories following early auditory deprivation are not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate brain network development in infants with early bilateral profound sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL).
- To characterize functional connectivity (FC) changes in resting-state networks (RSNs) in SNHL infants compared to controls.
Main Methods:
- Utilized independent component analysis (ICA) to identify seven RSNs.
- Compared intra- and inter-network FC in 50 SNHL infants (under 3 years old) and 36 healthy controls.
- Analyzed functional connectivity within auditory (AUN), salience, default mode, visual (VN), and sensorimotor (SMN) networks.
Main Results:
- SNHL infants exhibited decreased FC within the default mode network.
- Enhanced FC was observed within the auditory network (AUN) and salience network in SNHL infants.
- Increased inter-network FC was found between SMN and AUN, frontal network and AUN, SMN and VN, and frontal network and VN in the SNHL group.
- No significant FC changes were noted in the visual network (VN) and sensorimotor network (SMN).
Conclusions:
- Infants with early SNHL demonstrate a coexistence of functional connectivity loss and compensatory reorganization in brain networks.
- Findings provide a network basis for understanding brain development following hearing loss during critical early periods.
Abstract:
Data from both animal models and deaf children provide evidence for that the maturation of auditory cortex has a sensitive period during the first 2-4 years of life. During this period, the auditory stimulation can affect the development of cortical function to the greatest extent. Thus far, little is known about the brain development trajectory after early auditory deprivation within this period. In this study, independent component analysis (ICA) technique was used to detect the characteristics of brain network development in children with bilateral profound sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) before 3 years old. Seven resting-state networks (RSN) were identified in 50 SNHL and 36 healthy controls using ICA method, and further their intra-and inter-network functional connectivity (FC) were compared between two groups. Compared with the control group, SNHL group showed decreased FC within default mode network, while enhanced FC within auditory network (AUN) and salience network. No significant changes in FC were found in the visual network (VN) and sensorimotor network (SMN). Furthermore, the inter-network FC between SMN and AUN, frontal network and AUN, SMN and VN, frontal network and VN were significantly increased in SNHL group. The results implicate that the loss and the compensatory reorganization of brain network FC coexist in SNHL infants. It provides a network basis for understanding the brain development trajectory after hearing loss within early sensitive period.
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