An fMRI study of Chinese sign language in functional cortex of prelingual deaf signers

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), to observe the changes of cerebral functional cortex in prelingual deaf singers for Chinese sign language(CSL). Results : During observing and imitating CSL, the activated areas in all groups include bilateral middle frontal gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, superior parietal lobule, cuneate lobe, fusiform gyrus and lingual gurus. The activation of bilateral inferior frontal gyrus were found in group I, III and IV, but no activation in group II. The activation of bilateral superior temporal gyrus and inferior parietal lobule were found in group I and III, but no activation in others. The volumes of bilateral inferior frontal gyrus in group I were greater than those in group III and IV. The volumes of bilateral superior temporal gyrus in group I were greater than those in group III. Conclusion:The cortex in PDS had occurred reorganization, after losing their auditory and learning the CSL. The activation of linguistic cortex can be found during oberserving and imitating CSL in PDS. The secondary auditory cortex and association area turn to take part in processing visual language when no auditory afference, whereas the primary auditory cortex do not participate the reorganization. Additionally, the visual cortex of PDS is more sensitive than that of normal heaing individuals.