title: Morphological brain network assessed using graph theory and network filtration in deaf adults.
abstract: Prolonged deprivation of auditory input can change brain networks in pre- and postlingual deaf adults by brain-wide reorganization. To investigate morphological changes in these brains voxel-based morphometry, voxel-wise correlation with the primary auditory cortex, and whole brain network analyses using morphological covariance were performed in eight prelingual deaf, eleven postlingual deaf, and eleven hearing adults. Network characteristics based on graph theory and network filtration based on persistent homology were examined. Gray matter density in the primary auditor cortex was preserved in prelingual deafness, while it tended to decrease in postlingual deafness. Unlike postlingual, prelingual deafness showed increased bilateral temporal connectivity of the primary auditory cortex compared to the hearing adults. Of the graph theory-based characteristics, clustering coefficient, betweenness centrality, and nodal efficiency all increased in prelingual deafness, while all the parameters of postlingual deafness were similar to the hearing adults. Patterns of connected components changing during network filtration were different between prelingual deafness and hearing adults according to the barcode, dendrogram, and single linkage matrix representations, while these were the same in postlingual deafness. Nodes in fronto-limbic and left temporal components were closely coupled, and nodes in the temporo-parietal component were loosely coupled, in prelingual deafness. Patterns of connected components changing in postlingual deafness were the same as hearing adults. We propose that the preserved density of auditory cortex associated with increased connectivity in prelingual deafness, and closer coupling between certain brain areas, represent distinctive reorganization of auditory and related cortices compared with hearing or postlingual deaf adults. The differential network reorganization in the prelingual deaf adults could be related to the absence of auditory speech experience.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Institute of Radiation Medicine, Medical Research Center, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Interdisciplinary Program in Cognitive Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Eunkyung
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Data Science for Knowledge Creation Research Center, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hyejin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Institute of Radiation Medicine, Medical Research Center, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hyekyoung
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Hallym University College of Medicine, Chuncheon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hyo-Jeong
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Sensory Organ Research Institute, Seoul National University Medical Research Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Myung-Whan
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Suh
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jae-Jin
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Sensory Organ Research Institute, Seoul National University Medical Research Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: shaoh@snu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Seung-Ha
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Institute of Radiation Medicine, Medical Research Center, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Interdisciplinary Program in Cognitive Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Department of Molecular Medicine and Biopharmaceutical Sciences, Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology, and College of Medicine or College of Pharmacy, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: dsl@plaza.snu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Dong Soo
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001303:Auditory Cortex / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D003638:Deafness / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000473:pathology; D006309:Hearing / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011901:Ranvier's Nodes / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology; D055139:Sensory Gating / Q000502:physiology*