The Japanese journal of neuropsychology

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ArticleTitle	Plasticity and Development of Central Auditory Processing in Cochlear Implant Users
Language	J
AuthorList	Shigeru Hirano¹⁾, Nobuya Fujiki²⁾, Yasushi Naito³⁾
Affiliation	1) Department of Otolaryngology-Bronchoesophagology Kyoto Medical Center 2) Otsu Red Cross Hospital 3) Kobe Municipal Hospital
Publication	Japanese Journal of Neuropsychology: 21 (1), 44-48, 2005
Received
Accepted
Abstract	Plasticity and development of central auditory processing in cochlear implant users were examined using positron emission tomography (PET). In postlingually deaf patients, the supplementary motor area, the cingulate gyrus, and other cortical areas were activated during hearing speech sounds with cochlear implant as well as the auditory cortices. Activities of the auditory association area (A2) were correlated positively with speech perception outcome. Prelingually deaf patients generally presented poor activities in the brain during listening to speech sounds compared with postlingually deaf subjects. The A2 was activated by speech sounds in some cases of prelingually deaf subjects, while the A2 was replaced with visual speech processing such as lipreading and sign language in other cases. The present studies demonstrated plasticity of the brain in post- and prelingullay deaf cochlear implant users. The notable is that functional differentiation of the brain may differ according to linguistic environment during language acquisition period.
Keywords	cochlear implant, auditory processing, plasticity, positron emission tomography