Retinotopic remapping of the visual system in deaf adults

Abstract

Abstract Deaf individuals rely on visual rather than auditory cues to detect events in the periphery, putting a greater demand on neural resources for vision. Comparing visual maps in the brains of early deaf and hearing adults, we found a redistribution of neural resources in the lateral geniculate nucleus and primary visual cortex, with larger representations of the periphery, at a cost of smaller representations of the central visual field.