Preliminary study on the neural mechanisms of four tone recognition in deaf children using fMRI

Abstract Vocal intonation, a fundamental element of speech, is pivotal for comprehending and communicating effectively. Nevertheless, children suffering from hearing impairment encounter difficulties in recognizing vocal intonation patterns, primarily stemming from their auditory deficits. In 2020,...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Qiang Li, Yuan Meng, Qiuli Li, Heng Zhao, Shiyu Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-07-01
Series:Scientific Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-13308-5
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849235397902598144
author Qiang Li
Yuan Meng
Qiuli Li
Heng Zhao
Shiyu Li
author_facet Qiang Li
Yuan Meng
Qiuli Li
Heng Zhao
Shiyu Li
author_sort Qiang Li
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Vocal intonation, a fundamental element of speech, is pivotal for comprehending and communicating effectively. Nevertheless, children suffering from hearing impairment encounter difficulties in recognizing vocal intonation patterns, primarily stemming from their auditory deficits. In 2020, a study conducted at Tianjin Medical University General Hospital in Tianjin, China, recruited five deaf children and two children with normal hearing (male; mean age = 10.21 ± 0.4 years) to compare the differences between deaf and normal children in four Chinese tone recognition tasks. The results revealed that (1) Due to hearing loss, some of the auditory cortices responsible for processing vocal intonation in deaf children do not function optimally, (2) When decoding vocal intonation information, deaf children might utilize alternative neural pathways or networks, (3) Deaf children exhibit hemispheric specialization in their processing of vocal intonation cues.
format Article
id doaj-art-ba781d29e39b4ee6a9c577f89a9fe9a0
institution Kabale University
issn 2045-2322
language English
publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher Nature Portfolio
record_format Article
series Scientific Reports
spelling doaj-art-ba781d29e39b4ee6a9c577f89a9fe9a02025-08-20T04:02:46ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-07-0115111410.1038/s41598-025-13308-5Preliminary study on the neural mechanisms of four tone recognition in deaf children using fMRIQiang Li0Yuan Meng1Qiuli Li2Heng Zhao3Shiyu Li4Tianjin University of TechnologyTianjin University of TechnologyRoyal Melbourne Institute of TechnologySchool of Education and EnglishTianjin University of TechnologyAbstract Vocal intonation, a fundamental element of speech, is pivotal for comprehending and communicating effectively. Nevertheless, children suffering from hearing impairment encounter difficulties in recognizing vocal intonation patterns, primarily stemming from their auditory deficits. In 2020, a study conducted at Tianjin Medical University General Hospital in Tianjin, China, recruited five deaf children and two children with normal hearing (male; mean age = 10.21 ± 0.4 years) to compare the differences between deaf and normal children in four Chinese tone recognition tasks. The results revealed that (1) Due to hearing loss, some of the auditory cortices responsible for processing vocal intonation in deaf children do not function optimally, (2) When decoding vocal intonation information, deaf children might utilize alternative neural pathways or networks, (3) Deaf children exhibit hemispheric specialization in their processing of vocal intonation cues.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-13308-5Deaf childrenVocal tonesFMRIBrain regions
spellingShingle Qiang Li
Yuan Meng
Qiuli Li
Heng Zhao
Shiyu Li
Preliminary study on the neural mechanisms of four tone recognition in deaf children using fMRI
Scientific Reports
Deaf children
Vocal tones
FMRI
Brain regions
title Preliminary study on the neural mechanisms of four tone recognition in deaf children using fMRI
title_full Preliminary study on the neural mechanisms of four tone recognition in deaf children using fMRI
title_fullStr Preliminary study on the neural mechanisms of four tone recognition in deaf children using fMRI
title_full_unstemmed Preliminary study on the neural mechanisms of four tone recognition in deaf children using fMRI
title_short Preliminary study on the neural mechanisms of four tone recognition in deaf children using fMRI
title_sort preliminary study on the neural mechanisms of four tone recognition in deaf children using fmri
topic Deaf children
Vocal tones
FMRI
Brain regions
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-13308-5
work_keys_str_mv AT qiangli preliminarystudyontheneuralmechanismsoffourtonerecognitionindeafchildrenusingfmri
AT yuanmeng preliminarystudyontheneuralmechanismsoffourtonerecognitionindeafchildrenusingfmri
AT qiulili preliminarystudyontheneuralmechanismsoffourtonerecognitionindeafchildrenusingfmri
AT hengzhao preliminarystudyontheneuralmechanismsoffourtonerecognitionindeafchildrenusingfmri
AT shiyuli preliminarystudyontheneuralmechanismsoffourtonerecognitionindeafchildrenusingfmri