This proposal combines functional MRI and behavioral testing to examine phonological processing (PP) and reading in deaf adults raised with different communication modes: oral and Cued Speech (CS). This study will be the first to examine the effects of deafness and communication background on reading. CS is a manual system that completely represents the phonology of spoken languages via hand articulations and mouth movements, enabling deaf cuers to develop strong phonological and reading skills. Thus, we expect no differences between deaf cuers and their hearing peers on phonologically-mediated tasks such as rhyme judgment and reading. fMRI data will be collected during rhyme judgement and implicit reading tasks to determine whether deaf and hearing adults recruit similar neural regions during PP and reading. We predict deaf cuers and hearing controls will show similar patterns of task-related activity in the superior temporal and inferior frontal cortices, suggesting that these areas are modality-independent. Yet, we predict that oral subjects will show less activity in these regions due to their incomplete access to phonology. Neuro- psychological measures will be correlated with brain activity to explore the brain-behavior relationships resulting from different sensory and communication experiences. By increasing our understanding of how the neural basis of reading and PP are affected by different communication experiences, our findings will have broad implications for reading instruction, deaf education, and developmental learning disabilities.
| Olulade, O A; Jamal, N I; Koo, D S et al. (2016) Neuroanatomical Evidence in Support of the Bilingual Advantage Theory. Cereb Cortex 26:3196-204 |
| Olulade, Olumide A; Koo, Daniel S; LaSasso, Carol J et al. (2014) Neuroanatomical profiles of deafness in the context of native language experience. J Neurosci 34:5613-20 |
| Weisberg, Jill; Koo, Daniel S; Crain, Kelly L et al. (2012) Cortical plasticity for visuospatial processing and object recognition in deaf and hearing signers. Neuroimage 60:661-72 |
| Koo, Daniel; Crain, Kelly; LaSasso, Carol et al. (2008) Phonological awareness and short-term memory in hearing and deaf individuals of different communication backgrounds. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1145:83-99 |
