Cortical representation of hearing restoration in patients with sudden deafness.
To characterize brain activity in response to auditory stimuli during recovery from acute hearing loss, fMRI was performed at two time points in 11 patients with sudden deafness in the right ear, and 10 subjects with normal hearing. In the acute phase, right-ear auditory stimulation induced only a small response in the auditory cortex, limited to the left hemisphere. In the recovery phase, the auditory response was more extensive than in the acute phase. Stimulation of the left ear induced a more extensive response in the left than right hemisphere in both acute and recovery phases, which differed from the pattern in normal subjects. The changes in cortical activation patterns were seen within 1 week of sudden deafness. Thus, alteration of cortical response in deafness occurs earlier than suggested by previous reports.
Suzuki
Mikio
M
Department of Otolaryngology, Shiga University of Medical Science, Seta, Otsu, Japan. miki@belle.shiga-med.ac.jp
Kouzaki
Hideaki
H
Nishida
Yasuhiro
Y
Shiino
Akihiko
A
Ito
Ryuta
R
Kitano
Hiroya
H
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000502:physiology*; D000328:Adult; D001303:Auditory Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D003639:Hearing Loss, Sudden / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology*; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology