Dataset Information

Vibrotactile Discrimination Training Affects Brain Connectivity in Profoundly Deaf Individuals.

ABSTRACT: Early auditory deprivation has serious neurodevelopmental and cognitive repercussions largely derived from impoverished and delayed language acquisition. These conditions may be associated with early changes in brain connectivity. Vibrotactile stimulation is a sensory substitution method that allows perception and discrimination of sound, and even speech. To clarify the efficacy of this approach, a vibrotactile oddball task with 700 and 900 Hz pure-tones as stimuli [counterbalanced as target (T: 20% of the total) and non-target (NT: 80%)] with simultaneous EEG recording was performed by 14 profoundly deaf and 14 normal-hearing (NH) subjects, before and after a short training period (five 1-h sessions; in 2.5-3 weeks). A small device worn on the right index finger delivered sound-wave stimuli. The training included discrimination of pure tone frequency and duration, and more complex natural sounds. A significant P300 amplitude increase and behavioral improvement was observed in both deaf and normal subjects, with no between group differences. However, a P3 with larger scalp distribution over parietal cortical areas and lateralized to the right was observed in the profoundly deaf. A graph theory analysis showed that brief training significantly increased fronto-central brain connectivity in deaf subjects, but not in NH subjects. Together, ERP tools and graph methods depicted the different functional brain dynamic in deaf and NH individuals, underlying the temporary engagement of the cognitive resources demanded by the task. Our findings showed that the index-fingertip somatosensory mechanoreceptors can discriminate sounds. Further studies are necessary to clarify brain connectivity dynamics associated with the performance of vibrotactile language-related discrimination tasks and the effect of lengthier training programs.

SUBMITTER: Gonzalez-Garrido AA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5292439 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Vibrotactile Discrimination Training Affects Brain Connectivity in Profoundly Deaf Individuals.

González-Garrido Andrés A AA Ruiz-Stovel Vanessa D VD Gómez-Velázquez Fabiola R FR Vélez-Pérez Hugo H Romo-Vázquez Rebeca R Salido-Ruiz Ricardo A RA Espinoza-Valdez Aurora A Campos Luis R LR

Frontiers in human neuroscience 20170206

Early auditory deprivation has serious neurodevelopmental and cognitive repercussions largely derived from impoverished and delayed language acquisition. These conditions may be associated with early changes in brain connectivity. Vibrotactile stimulation is a sensory substitution method that allows perception and discrimination of sound, and even speech. To clarify the efficacy of this approach, a vibrotactile oddball task with 700 and 900 Hz pure-tones as stimuli [counterbalanced as target (T: ...[more]

PMID: 28220063

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Project description:BackgroundPrevious research has been designed to study the effect of hearing loss on supra-second duration estimation in the visual channel and position effect of visual abilities among deaf populations. The current study aimed to investigate the sub-second duration perception of different visual fields in profoundly deaf individuals.MethodsA total of 16 profoundly deaf undergraduates and 16 hearing undergraduates completed a visual duration bisection task in which participants made judgments about whether a series of probe durations that were linearly spaced from 200 ms to 800 ms at 100 ms intervals were more similar to a standard short duration (200 ms) or a standard long duration (800 ms). The probe stimuli were presented in the center, left, or right of the screen. A repeated measure analysis of variance (ANOVA) with a between-participants factor of group and a within-participants factor of position, and a one-sample t-test were conducted.ResultsThe Weber ratio (WR) values of deaf participants were significantly higher than those of hearing participants, regardless of the presented positions of the visual stimulus. The bisection point (BP) value of deaf participants was significantly lower than 500 ms (average mean of 200/800 ms) and the BP value of hearing participants did not significantly differ from 500 ms, although the overall difference of BP values between the deaf group and hearing group did not reach significance. For deaf participants, the BP value in the center condition was significantly lower than 500 ms; however, the difference between the BP value in the left condition and 500 ms did not reach significance, indicating that their duration discrimination accuracy in the left visual field was better than that in the center visual field.ConclusionsHearing loss impaired visual sub-second duration perception, and deaf individuals showed a left visual field advantage of duration discrimination accuracy during the visual duration bisection task.

Dataset Information

Vibrotactile Discrimination Training Affects Brain Connectivity in Profoundly Deaf Individuals.

Publications

Vibrotactile Discrimination Training Affects Brain Connectivity in Profoundly Deaf Individuals.

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