Abstract
Although extensive research on neural plasticity resulting from hearing deprivation has been conducted, the direct influence of compromised audition on the auditory cortex and the potential impact of long durations of incomplete sensory stimulation on the adult cortex are still not fully understood. In this study, using voxel-based morphometry, we evaluated gray matter (GM) volume changes that may be associated with reduced hearing ability and the duration of hearing impairment in 42 unilateral hearing loss (UHL) patients with acoustic neuromas compared to 24 normal controls. We found significant GM volume increases in the somatosensory and motor systems and GM volume decreases in the auditory (i.e., Heschl’s gyrus) and visual systems (i.e., the calcarine cortex) in UHL patients. The GM volume decreases in the primary auditory cortex (i.e., superior temporal gyrus and Heschl’s gyrus) correlated with reduced hearing ability. Meanwhile, the GM volume decreases in structures involving high-level cognitive control functions (i.e., dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex) correlated positively with hearing loss duration. Our findings demonstrated that the severity and duration of UHL may contribute to the dissociated morphology of auditory and high-level neural structures, providing insight into the brain’s plasticity related to chronic, persistent partial sensory loss.
Highlights
Brain might induce traumatic changes in cortical morphology because of defective compensation
We examined the experience-dependent brain plasticity in UHL participants using an MRI-based morphometric analysis
While the GM volume reductions in primary sensory regions were significantly correlated with subjective hearing ability, the hearing damage duration was related to decreased GM volumes in cortical areas involved in high-order cognitive processing
Summary
Brain might induce traumatic changes in cortical morphology because of defective compensation. Various cortices for basic perception and high-level cognition may be subject to a wide range of plastic reorganization. The study of UHL offers a unique opportunity to explore cortical reorganization in response to auditory damage and its consequent relevance to severity and duration. Studying UHL allows us to examine the direct influence of reduced hearing ability on cortical regions for sensory processing, as well as the consequences of prolonged partial deafness and its potential impact on high-level functions that lead to abnormal communication strategies. We hypothesized that hearing ability and UHL duration would be associated with distinctive degenerations in gross cortical morphology, which may reflect the perceptual input damage and the interaction between perceptual and other cognitive factors
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