Altered Functional Network in Infants With Profound Bilateral Congenital Sensorineural Hearing Loss: A Graph Theory Analysis

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have suggested that there is a functional reorganization of brain areas in patients with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). Recently, graph theory analysis has brought a new understanding of the functional connectome and topological features in central neural system diseases. However, little is known about the functional network topology changes in SNHL patients, especially in infants. In this study, 34 infants with profound bilateral congenital SNHL and 28 infants with normal hearing aged 11–36 months were recruited. No difference was found in small-world parameters and network efficiency parameters. Differences in global and nodal topologic organization, hub distribution, and whole-brain functional connectivity were explored using graph theory analysis. Both normal-hearing infants and SNHL infants exhibited small-world topology. Furthermore, the SNHL group showed a decreased nodal degree in the bilateral thalamus. Six hubs in the SNHL group and seven hubs in the normal-hearing group were identified. The left middle temporal gyrus was a hub only in the SNHL group, while the right parahippocampal gyrus and bilateral temporal pole were hubs only in the normal-hearing group. Functional connectivity between auditory regions and motor regions, between auditory regions and default-mode-network (DMN) regions, and within DMN regions was found to be decreased in the SNHL group. These results indicate a functional reorganization of brain functional networks as a result of hearing loss. This study provides evidence that functional reorganization occurs in the early stage of life in infants with profound bilateral congenital SNHL from the perspective of complex networks.