In the new study, Christina Karns, Neville, and Mark Dow of the University of Oregon asked how the early loss of hearing affected neuroplasticity in the deaf brain, and if that reorganization translated to altered perceptual abilities in deaf people. They were especially interested to see if deafness would affect how the brain processes touch and vision together, a question that had not been answered before now because it required precise tactile stimuli. Karns and her co-authors designed a unique device worn like headphones by the study's participants while inside an fMRI scanner. Flexible tubing, connected to a compressor in an adjacent room, delivered puffs of air to precise locations on participants' faces. These served as the tactile stimuli. Visual stimuli — brief pulses of light — were delivered through fiber optic cables mounted directly below the air-puff nozzle.

The researchers used the fMRI scanner to monitor changes in blood flow to different areas of the brain, with increased blood flow indicating an increase in brain activity. They paid special attention to an area known as Heschl's gyrus, which is the site of the primary auditory cortex in the human brain.

The participants included 13 congenitally deaf adults and 12 hearing adults for comparison. The deaf participants had more activation in the auditory cortex in response to touch and visual stimuli than did the hearing participants. Karns and her colleagues were surprised to find the primary auditory cortex in deaf people responded even more to touch than to vision.

The researchers took advantage of a known perceptual illusion in hearing people to look at how deaf brains processed both touch and vision together. The auditory-induced double-flash is a phenomenon in which a single flash of light, paired with two or more brief sounds, is perceived as multiple flashes of light. The researchers modified the illusion for their experiment by using a double puff of air as a tactile stimulus to replace the auditory stimulus. Deaf people were susceptible to the illusion of a double flash of light when a single flash was paired with double air puffs; hearing people were not.

The deaf participants all showed greater activity in Heschl's gyrus in response to the air puffs and light, but their responses differed in degree. Those with the highest level of auditory cortex activity in response to touch also had the strongest response to the illusion. This supports the interpretation that the double-flash illusion is a functional consequence of the altered cross-modal organization in the deaf brain.

Cross-modal plasticity can cause problems. If the brain has reorganized itself to compensate for the loss of hearing, what happens when hearing is restored? Stephen Lomber, a psychologist who studies cross-modal plasticity at the University of Western Ontario, compares it to a cottage you aren't using, so you let a friend stay there. The friend gets comfortable, rearranges the furniture, and settles in. If you come back, they may not want to leave. This could be why older people who are partially deaf find hearing aids confusing or unhelpful.

Cross-modal reorganization may also interfere with the success of cochlear implants. Incomplete reversal of deafness-induced brain reorganization might limit the benefit from cochlear implants, especially in children born deaf who receive implants after the age of four. These children, who have lacked auditory input since birth, may struggle with language comprehension and speech because the auditory areas of their brain have taken on the processing of other senses. Karns and other researchers studying cross-modal plasticity hope a better understanding of how the brain reorganizes will ultimately help deaf people. The ability to measure how much the auditory cortex has been repurposed for other sensory processing could help in designing intervention programs to retrain the auditory cortex to process sounds again. This research will not produce a real-life Daredevil, but it is a reminder that our brains have some hidden superpowers.

3 Comments

1. 1. Rangefinder6 06:13 PM 9/19/12

   I found this article of great interest to me as I have suffered from Conversion Disorder Blindness for the last seven years and am only now beginning to see properly again. In that time I have experienced improvement in my other senses, particularly hearing, but have noticed this diminishing as my sight improves. I was wondering whether psychological illnesses were included during research in this field.

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

2. 2. chien_fu 02:22 PM 10/15/12

   Articles like this will help to propagate the use of echolocation in the blind community. Thanks! Echolocation is a very real sense that can offer information far beyond what a cane or even a sighted guide can offer. And our brain is all ready to start using it!

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

3. 3. Afonso Pimenta in reply to Rangefinder6 02:47 PM 11/20/12

   Hello. Here is my e-mail (pimenta.afonso@gmail.com): can you send me yours through mine? I need to talk to you about conversion disorder.

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this