Cerebral Cortex Advance Access originally published online on April 20, 2005
Cerebral Cortex 2006 16(1):31-36; doi:10.1093/cercor/bhi081
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Dynamics of Auditory Plasticity after Cochlear Implantation: A Longitudinal Study
1 Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis, Münster University Hospital, University of Münster, Germany, 2 Department of Phoniatrics and Pediatric Audiology, Münster University Hospital, University of Münster, Germany and 3 The Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, Toronto, Canada
Address correspondence to Dr Christo Pantev, Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis, Münster University Hospital, University of Münster, Malmedyweg 15, 48129 Münster, Germany. Email: pantev{at}uni-muenster.de
Human representational cortex may fundamentally alter its organization and (re)gain the capacity for auditory processing even when it is deprived of its input for more than two decades. Stimulus-evoked brain activity was recorded in post-lingual deaf patients after implantation of a cochlear prosthesis, which partly restored their hearing. During a 2 year follow-up study this activity revealed almost normal component configuration and was localized in the auditory cortex, demonstrating adequacy of the cochlear implant stimulation. Evoked brain activity increased over several months after the cochlear implant was turned on. This is taken as a measure of the temporal dynamics of plasticity of the human auditory system after implantation of cochlear prosthesis.
Key Words: auditory cortex auditory plasticity dynamics cochlear implant magnetoencephalography