Plasticity of Visual and Language Functions: The Case of Deafness and of Video Game Playing
Daphne Bavelier
Discussions of neurocognitive development have long been dominated by the "nature-nurture" debate. Although most current investigators ackowledge the role of biological constraints imposed by the genotype, recent research also documents the role of experience in both gene expression and other chemical and physiolgical developmental events. It is now clear that development relies on a dynamic and complex interplay between predetermined genetic events and environmental events. Work in the Brain and Vision Lab explores the role that early experience plays in determining the cerebral organization of the adult brain. We do so by comparing individuals with altered experience to control individuals. For example, we ask whether being born deaf modifies the visual system by comparing congenitally deaf individuals to hearing controls on a number of visuo-spatial tests. We use behavioral measures (such as reaction times or eye movements) as well as non-invasive brain imaging (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging), conducted at the Rochester Center for Brain Imaging.
Three main lines of research are being carried in the lab. One investigates the impact of early deafness on the organization of the visual system. The second investigates the impact of playing video games on vision, and the third, the impact of using a visuo-manual language such as American Sign Language rather than a spoken language on the cerebral organization for language.