Assessing the neural dynamics of reading in deaf adults

San Diego State University, San Diego CA

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

1 Poor literacy is a critical problem in the deaf population, but some deaf individuals do become skilled readers, and they provide insights into the beneficial changes to the reading system that arise from successful adaptations to distinct sensory and linguistic experiences. A deaf-specific neurocognitive profile for skilled reading has been identified in adults, but the underlying mechanisms that give rise to this profile are unclear. NIDCD’s strategic plan for 2023-2027 encourages research to “Examine the neural circuits and computations that underlie multisensory interactions in communication processing and identify changes to these circuits when compromised by sensory and communication deficits”. Supporting this objective, this project investigates specific hypotheses about how early deafness impacts visual word recognition (e.g., via rapid visual processing of orthographic features) and sentence-level processing (e.g., via enhanced attention to words in the visual periphery). The project also investigates specific hypotheses about how linguistic differences (e.g., weaker phonological skills and the acquisition of a sign language, including fingerspelling) affect both word- level processing (e.g., altering how orthographic representations are neurally represented and accessed) and sentence-level processing (e.g., changing how semantic and syntactic information are weighted when reading English). Because the processing of individual words is considered fundamental to reading, Aim 1 of the project is to identify the mechanisms that underlie the unique neural dynamics of word reading in deaf adults, but because typical reading involves multiple words encountered in connected text, Aim 2 is to characterize the neural dynamics of sentence reading that are unique to skilled deaf readers. These aims will be achieved through innovative methods that combine event-related potentials (ERPs) with state-of-the-art single word and sentence reading paradigms, including co-registered EEG/eye-movement recordings during natural reading. We also will use linear mixed effects regression to identify the effects of continuous measures of reading, spelling, and phonological skills on ERP components using single trial EEG data. The results of this project will advance our understanding of the neuroplasticity of the reading system and will be key to creating targeted remediation programs for deaf adults with poor reading ability. By understanding the mechanisms that support skilled reading in deaf people, individualized treatments and more precise interventions can be created that target these mechanisms (promoting “precision medicine” – another goal of the NIDCD strategic plan), and thus improve reading skills for this specific subpopulation.