Assessing the neural dynamics of reading in deaf adults

对于那些天生就严重到极度失聪的人来说，阅读是一个巨大的挑战，因为他们听不到用印刷体编码的语言。导致聋人熟练阅读的因素目前正在辩论中，也没有得到很好的理解。对于听力个体来说，语音编码和意识技能似乎是阅读成功的关键，但这些技能并不能很好地预测聋人的阅读水平。此外，对于聋人读者从识别视觉字母特征到获取词义的转换过程中涉及的潜在神经过程，几乎一无所知。该项目旨在调查聋人成年人对阅读的大脑反应，以及预测这些反应变化的因素。通过确定影响(和不影响)阅读过程的因素，该项目将为聋人识字指导和阅读补救的教育模式提供信息。此外，耳聋对学生从事研究工作的能力有很大影响，因为沟通障碍阻碍了与听力科学家的互动。主要调查人员有对聋人友好的实验室(例如，项目工作人员精通美国学习语言)，并提供培训，帮助聋人学生进入科学和学术领域。因此，该项目的一个平行目标是通过将聋人研究人员纳入该项目并为聋人学生提供一个方便的环境来获得培训和研究经验，来增加聋人在科学中的代表性。在国家科学基金会的支持下，凯伦·埃莫里博士、菲利普·霍尔科姆博士和他们的同事将使用行为和神经生理学方法来确定哪些因素可以预测聋人在阅读和识别书面单词时大脑反应的变化(例如，拼写能力、语音意识、手势能力、阅读速度)。尖端的震源定位技术将被用来约束和识别脑电(EEG)测量的大脑反应的神经位置。该项目旨在阐明英语和美国手语双语聋人阅读的神经动力学，并了解聋人阅读的神经成分是如何由耳聋塑造的，即由先天性听力损失导致的视觉注意力和语音能力的变化。这些发现将对理解阅读系统的神经可塑性(和不变性)具有重要的理论意义，并对开发针对聋人的阅读干预措施具有实际意义。

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.