title: Cortical activity at rest predicts cochlear implantation outcome.
abstract: The functional status of central neural pathways, in particular their susceptibility to plasticity and functional reorganization, may influence speech performance of deaf cochlear implant users. In this paper, we sought to determine how brain metabolic activity measured before implantation relates to cochlear implantation outcome, that is, speech perception. In 22 prelingually deaf children between 1 and 11 years, we correlated preoperative glucose metabolism as measured by F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography with individual speech perception performance assessed 3 years after implantation, while factoring out the confounding effect of age at implantation. Whereas age at implantation was positively correlated with increased activity in the right superior temporal gyrus, speech scores were selectively associated with enhanced metabolic activity in the left prefrontal cortex and decreased metabolic activity in right Heschl's gyrus and in the posterior superior temporal sulcus. These results reinforce the notion that implantation should be performed as early as possible to prevent cross-modal takeover of auditory regions and suggest that rehabilitation strategies may be more efficient if they capitalize on general cognitive functions instead of only targeting specialized circuits dedicated to auditory and audiovisual pattern recognition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyo-Jeong
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Anne-Lise
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Giraud
authors.forename: Eunjoo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Seung-Ha
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Hyejin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Chong-Sun
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Dong Soo
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D001303:Auditory Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019929:Cochlear Implantation; D003638:Deafness / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D011379:Prognosis; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18