Does the deaf auditory cortex have a role in cognition?

当在环境中发出声音时，神经元在大脑的听觉皮质中放电，给我们带来主观的听觉体验。对于先天失聪的人来说，在一个被称为跨模式可塑性的过程之后，这种听力机器并不是多余的，而是被用于视觉和触觉等功能。然而，我的工作表明，这个故事可能更复杂。我已经证明，聋人的听觉皮质与工作记忆有关，工作记忆是我们用来在大脑中保存和处理信息的认知能力。这一发现表明，聋人的听觉皮质可能不仅具有感觉功能，而且还可以重组成为认知控制网络的一部分。为什么聋人和听力正常的人在同一个皮质的活动会导致不同的感知体验？此外，进化为对声音做出反应的大脑皮层是如何改变其功能的，不仅对视觉和触觉做出反应，还承担起更高的认知功能，如工作记忆？证明这些是真的，将代表着我们对行为、认知和大脑理解的深刻变化：即，作为感觉丧失和神经重组的结果，大脑中通常具有感觉功能的部分可以将其角色转变为主要的认知功能，并可能改变我们的行为。使用功能磁共振成像(FMRI)来测量聋人和听力人的神经功能，以及机器学习技术，我的目标是解决以下问题：聋人的听觉皮质参与多种认知功能吗？它能代表跨感觉通道的抽象任务规则吗？此外，聋人能否战略性地将认知资源分配到听觉皮质？世界上超过5%的人口患有严重的听力损失，该项目的结果将提供证据，指导这些人发展更好的(康复)和教育选择。此外，从这个项目中得出的原理可以应用于其他类型的感觉丧失，以及可以恢复缺失的大脑功能的电子设备的设计(神经假体)。因此，该项目不仅将解决一个基本的科学问题，而且还有可能为社会带来重要的好处。

When a sound is made in the environment, neurons fire in the auditory cortex of the brain, giving us the subjective experience of hearing. In congenitally deaf people, following a process known as crossmodal plasticity, this hearing machinery, rather than being redundant, is known to be used for functions such as vision and touch. However, my work suggests that the story may be more complicated. I have shown that the auditory cortex of the deaf is involved in working memory, the cognitive capacity that we use to keep and manipulate information in our mind. This finding suggests that the deaf auditory cortex may not only serve sensory functions, but also reorganise to become part of a cognitive control network. How is it that activity in the same cortex results in different perceptual experiences in deaf and hearing individuals? Moreover, how does a cortex that evolved to respond to sounds change its function to respond not only to vision and touch, but also to take on higher cognitive functions such as working memory? Proving these to be true would represent a profound change in our understanding of behaviour, cognition and the brain: namely that, as a consequence of sensory loss and neural reorganisation, parts of the brain that usually have sensory functions can change their role to primarily cognitive functions, and potentially modify our behaviour.Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure neural function in deaf and hearing individuals, and machine learning techniques, I aim to address the following questions: Is the deaf auditory cortex involved in multiple cognitive functions? Can it represent abstract task rules across sensory modalities? Furthermore, can deaf individuals strategically allocate cognitive resources to the auditory cortex?Over 5% of the world's population has a significant hearing loss, and results from this project will contribute evidence that can guide the development of better (re)habilitation and educational options to these individuals. Moreover, principles derived from this project can be applied to other types of sensory losses, and to the design of electronic devices that can restore missing brain functions (neural prostheses). Thus, this project will not only address a fundamental scientific question, but also has the potential of important benefits for society.