Cross brain reshaping in congenital visual or hearing impairment: triple-network dysfunction

作者：Jiahong Li, Binbin Xiong, Suijun Chen, Jing Li, Yu Luo, Yu‐Chen Chen, Jae‐Jin Song, Fei Zhao, Jing Yang, Chenlong Li, Yiqing Zheng, Li Gui, Huanling Feng, Weirong Chen, Weirong Chen, Yuexin Cai, Wan Chen, Wan Chen · 发表于：Brain Communications · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1093/braincomms/fcaf150 · 被引用次数：5 · 研究领域：EEG and Brain-Computer Interfaces、Neural dynamics and brain function、Functional Brain Connectivity Studies

This research examines how congenital visual or hearing impairment reshapes brain function using EEG. The study involved 40 children with congenital visual impairment, 40 with hearing impairment and 42 age and gender-matched normal children as controls. The investigation included assessments of visual and auditory abilities, along with comprehensive EEG evaluations. Techniques such as source localization, functional connectivity and cross-frequency coupling were used to analyse variations in brain activity. Machine learning methods, specifically support vector machines, were utilized to identify key reshaping characteristics associated with congenital impairments. Results showed reduced activation in the visual cortex for visually impaired children and decreased activation in the auditory cortex for hearing-impaired children compared with the control group. Both impairment groups demonstrated significant reductions in functional connectivity across various brain regions, including the visual and auditory cortices, insula, parahippocampal gyrus, posterior cingulate gyrus and frontal cortex. The machine learning model highlighted aberrant connectivity between the visual/auditory cortex and the right insula, the medial prefrontal cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the visual and auditory cortex in children with these impairments in the alpha frequency band. Spatially similar patterns of cross-frequency coupling of rhythmic activity were also observed. The study conclu...