Linked Life Data

10906374

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/10906374

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
11
pubmed:dateCreated
2000-12-11
pubmed:abstractText
While behavioral studies have documented delayed language acquisition in blind children, other studies have revealed better speech discrimination abilities for blind than sighted adults. Several brain imaging studies have provided evidence for cortical reorganization due to visual deprivation but the cerebral organization of language in blind humans is not known yet. We hypothesized that the increasing specialization of language systems normally observed during development may not take place to the same degree in blind individuals since posterior visual areas do not receive their adequate input. On the other hand, we hypothesized that blind people, due to their greater reliance upon the auditory language signal, may process speech faster than sighted people. To test these assumptions, event-related potentials were recorded while 11 congenitally blind and 11 sighted adults matched in age, gender, handedness and education were engaged in a language task. Participants listened to sentences in order to decide after each sentence if it was meaningful or not. Incongruous sentence-final words elicited an N400 effect in both groups. The N400 effect had a left-lateralized fronto-central scalp distribution in the sighted but a symmetric and broad topography in the blind. Furthermore, the N400 effect started earlier in the blind than in the sighted. Closed class compared to open class sentence middle words elicited a more pronounced late negativity in the blind than in the sighted. These results suggest that blind people process auditory language stimuli faster than sighted people and that some language functions may be reorganized in the blind.
pubmed:grant
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:issn
0028-3932
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
38
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
1482-502
pubmed:dateRevised
2009-11-11
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2000
pubmed:articleTitle
Event-related potentials during auditory language processing in congenitally blind and sighted people.
pubmed:affiliation
Biological and Experimental Psychology, Philipps-University Marburg, Gutenbergstrasse 18, D-35032, Marburg, Germany. roeder@mailer.uni-marburg.edu
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S., Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't