3-153 - The Effects of Early Experience on Sensory Development: A Comparison of Vision and Hearing

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

It has long been known that early visual or auditory deprivation adversely impacts the postnatal tuning of the cortex and leads to behavioural deficits. In this symposium, we will present interdisciplinary evidence elucidating the processes behind these effects. The first paper will present data on the reorganization of the visual cortex after complete blindness. The second paper will present data on patients in whom the visual deprivation was temporary because it was caused by dense cataracts that could be removed, with the deprivation affecting one or both eyes, and beginning at different ages. The third paper will present data on the auditory cortex of cats that were deafened either during infancy or early adulthood, with or without hearing later restored by cochlear implants. The fourth paper will present data on congenitally deaf children who received cochlear implants to one or both ears at various ages. Three themes will be explored across the four papers: the effect of the timing of deprivation, the role of crossmodal re-organization in limiting recovery, and the different outcomes after unilateral versus bilateral deprivation. Based on these themes, we will note common principles in the role of early experience in shaping visual versus auditory development.

Sub Unit

• Perceptual, Sensory, Motor

Chair

• Daphne Maurer, McMaster Univ

Individual Presentations

• Cortical Re-organization after Blindness - Presenting Author: Amir Amedi, The Hebrew Univ of Jerusalem; Sami Abboud, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Shachar Maidenbaum, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Ella Striem-Amit, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Laurent Cohen, INSERM UMRS; Stanislas Dehaene, Université Paris 11

• The Effects of Experience on Visual Development: Insights from Cataract-Reversal Patients - Presenting Author: Daphne Maurer, McMaster Univ; Yi-Chuan Chen, University of Oxford; Olivier Collignon, University of Trento; Terri L. Lewis, McMaster University

• Plasticity of the Developing Auditory Cortex Following Hearing Loss and Restoration - Presenting Author: Steve Lomber, University of Western Ontario

• Cortical development and cross-modal re-organization in deafness: Evidence from children with cochlear implants - Presenting Author: Anu Sharma, University of Colorado at Boulder