An Examination of Cross-Modal Reorganization in the Auditory Cortex

The temporal lobe is meant for processing sounds and dealing with almost everything hearing related. We believe this is possibly our most interactive exhibit with multiple activities designed to test and explore one’s hearing potential! Two activities include a hearing test and a pitch hearing test both of which are clearly interactive and enjoyable for both young and old

If I were to get into an accident, and had to choose which part of the brain I would be okay with being damaged, I think I would have to choose the Auditory Cortex. Damage to the Auditory Cortex in humans means the loss of awareness in sound. If the damage was severe there is a chance I would go completely deaf. However, there is the slight chance that I could still have reactions to sounds. I may still be able to tell the difference between high and low pitch frequencies in the sounds. I can also possibly be able to tell which direction a sound is coming from. There is also a chance it would cause me to have balance issues, and excessive ringing in the ears. Most of the time this type of damage is permeant. I think that I could handle the

There is a critical shortage of guide animals for the blind and guide horses are an appropriate assistance animal for thousands of visually impaired people in the USA. In early experiments, Guide Horses have shown great promise as a mobility option, and people who have tried Guide Horses report that the Guide Horses perform exceptionally well at keeping their person safe. These friendly horses provide an experimental alternative mobility option for blind people. People who have tried Guide Horses report that the horses demonstrate excellent judgment and are not easily distracted by crowds and people.

Ramachandran is helping to understand is the blindsight syndrome. Blindsight syndrome is when the person is completely blind, but can see. This is a rare syndrome seen in brain trauma patients. Graham Young has had this condition since he was eight years old, due to a horrific traffic accident. Graham can see to the left, but is unable to visualize anything on the right side. He is able to see an object move or the orientation of it, but cannot comprehend the object. Graham lacks the ability to be consciously aware of wait is being seen. People do not only just see objects, but they also interpret the information. According to Dr. Ramachandran, there are two ways the brain visualizes objects (Rawlene, 2014). The cerebral cortex pathway is from the eyeball through the thalamus to the visual cortex of the brain, which allows you to be visually conscious of what you are seeing (Rawlene, 2014). The other pathway to see is through the central core (Rawlene, 2014). The central core is located near the base of the stem of the brain, which is then transmitted to the visual cortex (Rawlene, 2014). The central core is closely related to lower life forms, such as a cat (Rawlene, 2014). This connection is more concern with the survival of the species and necessary reflexes (Rawlene, 2014). Blindsight syndrome happens when there is damage to just the cerebral cortex pathway. Graham Young‘s condition is a prime example of how the brain needs to

For example, John Hull, a religious professor who lost his sight once he became forty-eight years old, is able to obtain a “new intensity of auditory experience (or attention) [and comes] to feel a sense of intimacy with nature [along with] an intensity of being-in-the-world” (330). He becomes “intellectually and spiritually bolder, more confident,” and is able to create a different identity for himself as a result of his blindness (330). His brain is able to adapt to such a drastic adjustment and the hyperacuity he experiences alters how his brain recognizes the world around him. Hull is a convincing example of the brain’s plasticity and how the senses can define a person’s identity. We respond to our experiences using our senses and the brain’s ability to utilize sensory inputs. Having sensory loss essentially enhances the other senses that remain functional, resulting in an improvement of the brain’s ability to communicate images, sounds, smells, and textures. Experiences become more vivid and vibrant than they naturally would be. Even though the actual experience of losing one of the senses can be severely traumatic and damaging, the brain works to recover from that loss. In the case of sensory loss, the brain is able to significantly recover better than it would in regards to psychological trauma. Sensory loss represents the extent to which our responses to life experiences can contribute to

Sound is very interesting and has many topics to discuss on what systems we use to understand all of it. Humans brains are very important for sounds and vibrations but so are our ears. Ears are how we hear and gather sounds and our brain is used for understanding and processing all of the sounds and vibrations we have previously

As a small child, it was frustrating to not be able to make the adults in my life understand me. Many years later after development of the brainstem auditory evoked response test (BAER), a doctor who it seemed was always on the cutting edge of his science and working with neurologists at the old Lovelace Medical Center, tested my hearing using the BAER . For me, the results of this test were life changing because for the first time in 28 years my not being able to understand much of the conversation around me and consequently, my ability to communicate had a name—a diagnosis—central auditory processing disorder—I heard at two different speeds and both were at a slower rate than that of the general population.

The Occipital Lobe is the center for visual processing in the brain. It not only controls vision and color recognition, but some studies have shown it has connections to hearing.

.Karns, C. M., Dow, M. W., & Neville, H. J. (2012). Altered Cross-modal Processing in the Primary Auditory Cortex of Congenitally Deaf Adults: A Visual-somatosensory fMRI Study with a Double-flash Illusion.The Journal of Neuroscience 32, no. 28, 9626-9638.

In the real-world listening situations, auditory information is processed by two ears, often in the presence of background noise.(4) Binaural interaction is reflected in electrophysiological activity of neurons activated by binaural stimulation central to the cochlear nucleus. Binaural interaction is known to occur at three levels of the brainstem: superior olivary complex (SOC), lateral lemniscus and inferior colliculus (IC).(5)

Auditory selective attention modulates the cortical responses. Because of the corticofugal feedback from the auditory cortex to the brainstem level, the brainstem responses are affected by higher order mechanisms. Auditory selective attention increases selectivity and shifts the responses to the target sound. In this study in order to evaluate selectivity at the brainstem level during auditory selective attention, the cross-phasogram method was used. The responses were obtained in 15 normal hearing subjects. In this study, the cross-phasogram method was applied to the brainstem responses to the diotically-presented /ba/ and /da/ stimuli. Then it was applied to the brainstem responses to the dichotically-presented /ba/ and /da/ stimuli while

Michael Freed explains that we have actually rapidly grown the strength of our visual brain as we are taught from young to read and learn most things visually and this is why most of us find it easier to retain information that is shown to us visually as we oppress our auditory skills. We see that we are equally visual and auditory learners from when we are very young. Michael Freed says, 8.“It is known that children in young age can learn effectively, it was assumed that playing music reading stories and showing them animation could definitely stimulate their brain potential in all kind of development. In that age it is believed that baby would have the same visual memory and audio memory, since they are not being sterilized nor have specific

In addition, memory span tasks support the existence of the articulatory loop showing that task ability heavily depends on a

Cross-modal plasticity (CMP) is a fundamental feature of the nervous system, whereby the loss of one sensory modality leads to enhanced sensory performance in remaining modalities. Several studies have observed that areas within the occipital cortex (O.C.) of blind individuals are recruited to process non-visual input. This was reported in blinded monkeys, wherein the O.C. showed robust activation during tactile stimulation. However, different areas show different susceptibilities to such plasticity depending on the developmental age at which the sensory deprivation occurred. One study showed that O.C. activity varies between sighted and congenitally blind participants, and those blinded later in life. Their findings indicated that the longer a person has been blind for, the higher the amount of CMP. This might result from a variety of mechanisms such as the emergence of new connections due to sensory deprivation or the unmasking of preexisting connections. That said, to prove that the activation of the O.C. is truly an indicator of CMP, scientists investigated whether stimulating the cortex with TMS would disrupt participants’ tactile acuity. Results showed congenitally blind individuals to have a much higher error rate in reading

This article talks about ocular morbidity and how it can be related to deaf children. They examined three different places in Nepal. It shows that when children are admitted to deaf schools they are also tested to see if ocular morbidity has also occurred. It was proven to be at least 37% of the kids had some sort of ocular examination before being admitted. These examinations also show that during the 7th week of embryonic stage the oculo-auditory parts are well defined and are able to be damaged. Another part of the article also stated that Pigmentary Retinopathy was also being related to congenital hearing loss in kids, yet Pigmentary Retinopathy is of the eye why congenital hearing loss is of the ear.