title: Visual change detection recruits auditory cortices in early deafness.
abstract: Although cross-modal recruitment of early sensory areas in deafness and blindness is well established, the constraints and limits of these plastic changes remain to be understood. In the case of human deafness, for instance, it is known that visual, tactile or visuo-tactile stimuli can elicit a response within the auditory cortices. Nonetheless, both the timing of these evoked responses and the functional contribution of cross-modally recruited areas remain to be ascertained. In the present study, we examined to what extent auditory cortices of deaf humans participate in high-order visual processes, such as visual change detection. By measuring visual ERPs, in particular the visual MisMatch Negativity (vMMN), and performing source localization, we show that individuals with early deafness (N=12) recruit the auditory cortices when a change in motion direction during shape deformation occurs in a continuous visual motion stream. Remarkably this "auditory" response for visual events emerged with the same timing as the visual MMN in hearing controls (N=12), between 150 and 300 ms after the visual change. Furthermore, the recruitment of auditory cortices for visual change detection in early deaf was paired with a reduction of response within the visual system, indicating a shift from visual to auditory cortices of part of the computational process. The present study suggests that the deafened auditory cortices participate at extracting and storing the visual information and at comparing on-line the upcoming visual events, thus indicating that cross-modally recruited auditory cortices can reach this level of computation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento, Italy; Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Italy; Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Hamburg, Germany. Electronic address: davide.bottari@uni-hamburg.de.
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bottari
authors.affiliation: Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Italy.
authors.forename: Benedetta
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Heimler
authors.affiliation: Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, Brain Dynamics and Cognition Team, CRNL, INSERM U1028, CNRS UMR5292, Lyon F-69000, France; University Lyon 1, Lyon F-69000, France.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Caclin
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento, Italy.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dalmolin
authors.affiliation: Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, Brain Dynamics and Cognition Team, CRNL, INSERM U1028, CNRS UMR5292, Lyon F-69000, France; University Lyon 1, Lyon F-69000, France.
authors.forename: Marie-Hélène
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Giard
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento, Italy; Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pavani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001303:Auditory Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003638:Deafness / Q000503:physiopathology*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005556:Form Perception; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009039:Motion Perception; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011930:Reaction Time; D011999:Recruitment, Neurophysiological; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cross-modal plasticity; Deafness; Functional selectivity; MisMatch Negativity