Sensory experience modulates the reorganisation of temporal auditory regions for executive processing

Abstract

Crossmodal plasticity refers to the reorganisation of sensory cortices in the absence of their main sensory input. Understanding this phenomenon provides insights into brain function and its potential for change and enhancement. Using fMRI, we investigated how early deafness influences crossmodal plasticity and the organisation of executive functions in the adult human brain. Results from a range of visual executive function tasks (working memory, task switching, planning, inhibition) show that deaf individuals specifically recruit "auditory" regions during task switching. Neural activity in superior temporal regions, most significantly in the right hemisphere, are good predictors of behavioural performance during task switching in the deaf group, highlighting the functional relevance of the observed cortical reorganisation. Our results show executive processing in typically sensory regions, suggesting that the development and ultimate role of brain regions are influenced by perceptual environmental experience.