Assessing the neural dynamics of reading in deaf adults

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Reading presents a significant challenge for individuals who are born severely-to-profoundly deaf because they cannot hear the language that is encoded by print. The factors that lead to skilled reading for deaf individuals are currently under debate and not well understood. For hearing individuals, phonological coding and awareness skills appear to be critical for reading success, but these skills are not good predictors of reading proficiency for deaf people. Furthermore, almost nothing is known about the underlying neural processes involved in the transition from identifying visual letter features to accessing word meaning for deaf readers. This project is designed to investigate the brain response to reading in deaf adults and the factors that predict variation in those responses. By identifying factors that do (and do not) affect reading processes, this project will inform educational models of literacy instruction and reading remediation for deaf people. In addition, deafness has a substantial impact on the ability of students to gain access to research careers because of communication roadblocks that hamper interaction with hearing scientists. The principal investigators have deaf-friendly labs (e.g., project staff are fluent in ASL) and provide training that facilitates the entrance of deaf students into scientific and academic fields. Thus, a parallel aim of the project is to increase the representation of deaf people in science by including deaf researchers on the project and by providing an accessible environment for deaf students to gain training and research experience.With support from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Karen Emmorey, Dr. Philip Holcomb, and their colleagues will use behavioral and neurophysiological measures to identify what factors predict variations in the brain's response when deaf adults read and recognize written words (e.g., spelling ability, phonological awareness, signing ability, reading speed). Cutting edge source localization techniques will be used to constrain and identify the neural location of the brain's response as measured by electroencephalography (EEG). The project is designed to illuminate the neural dynamics of reading for deaf people who are bilingual in English and American Sign Language and to understand how the neural components of reading are shaped by deafness, i.e., by the changes in visual attention and phonological abilities that result from congenital hearing loss. These discoveries will have theoretical import for understanding the neural plasticity (and invariance) of the reading system, as well as practical implications for developing reading interventions for deaf individuals.