Shape of the hemodynamic response function in deaf infants eligible for cochlear implantation

Significance: Deaf and hard-of-hearing infants' hemodynamic response function (HRF) has not yet been characterized. However, without an appropriate estimate of their HRF, neuroimaging modalities relying on hemodynamic responses, e.g., functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) or functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), cannot be used reliably in this population, e.g., prior to and following cochlear implantation. We contribute to better theoretical models of and more suitable therapeutic interventions for the neural changes induced by auditory and language deprivation in deaf infants. Aim: We aim to characterize the parameters of the HRF of deaf and hard-of-hearing infants in response to Italian. Approach: We measured 2- to 20-month-old Italian-exposed infants' HRF to Italian using fNIRS in the bilateral temporal, i.e., auditory, cortices. We characterized the HRF for all infants and for three clinically relevant subsets: (i) monolingual Italian infants, (ii) genetically deaf infants, and (iii) infants aged 5 to 12 months. We computed the following parameters: peak amplitude, time-to-peak, full width at half maximum, and where present, the amplitude and latency of the initial dip and/or the final undershoot, using a model-based parameter fitting approach. We statistically compared these HRF parameters to those of typically hearing infants. Results: Deaf and typically hearing infants showed largely similar HRFs, with both groups reaching comparable main peak amplitudes. Minor differences have been found in the latencies of some response components. Conclusions: Our results provide the first detailed characterization of the hemodynamic response to native-language speech in deaf and hard-of-hearing infants, improving clinical and therapeutic approaches through more accurate analysis of fMRI and fNIRS data.