Cross-Modal Plasticity Underpins Language Recovery after Cochlear Implantation

Postlingually deaf subjects learn the meaning of sounds after cochlear implantation by forming new associations between sounds and their sources. Implants generate coarse frequency responses, preventing place-coding fine enough to discriminate sounds with similar temporal characteristics, e.g., buck/duck. This limitation imposes a dependency on visual cues, e.g., lipreading. We hypothesized that cross-modal facilitation results from engagement of the visual cortex by purely auditory tasks. In four functional neuroimaging experiments, we show recruitment of early visual cortex (V1/V2) when cochlear implant users listen to sounds with eyes closed. Activity in visual cortex evolved in a stimulus-specific manner as a function of time from implantation reflecting experience-dependent adaptations in the postimplant phase.