Somatosensory gating is related to behavioral and verbal outcomes in children with mild-to-severe hearing loss

Abstract

Sensory gating is a process by which the brain filters out redundant information to preserve neural resources for behaviorally relevant stimuli. Although studies have shown alterations in auditory and visual processing in children who are hard-of-hearing (CHH) relative to children with normal hearing (CNH), it is unclear whether these alterations extend to the somatosensory domain, and how aberrations in sensory processing affect sensory gating. In this study, CHH and CNH were presented with a paired-pulse median nerve stimulation during magnetoencephalography. Stimulus-related gamma neural activity was imaged and virtual time series from peak somatosensory responses were extracted. We found significant effects of both stimulus and group, as well as a significant group-by-stimulus interaction. CHH showed a larger response to stimulation overall, as well as greater differences in gamma power from the first to the second stimulus. However, when looking at the ratio rather than the absolute difference in power, CHH showed comparable gating to CNH. In addition, smaller gating ratios were correlated with better classroom behavior and verbal ability in CHH, but not CNH. Taken together, these data underscore the importance of considering how CHH experience their multisensory environment when interpreting outcomes and designing interventions.

Keywords: gamma; hard-of-hearing; magnetoencephalography; oscillations; sensory processing.