# Multisensory temporal processing in early deaf adults

> **NIH NIH P20** · UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA RENO · 2020 · $216,319

## Abstract

The loss of one sense early in life can lead to an enhancement of the remaining senses. The behavioral 
enhancements are often accompanied by cortical reorganization, where sensory-deprived auditory regions 
are recruited for processing visual and tactile stimuli. To date, studies of compensatory plasticity in early 
deaf individuals have tended to focus on unisensory (either tactile or visual) spatial processing, and the 
recruitment of deprived auditory areas. Combining behavioral and neuroimaging measurements, the goals 
of this proposed project are to examine the effects of auditory deprivation on multisensory temporal 
processing, and to characterize the neural mechanisms underlying these effects. Specifically, we will 
determine whether early deafness impairs both the precision and the malleability of multisensory temporal 
integration and whether these impairments are spatially modulated. Furthermore, we will characterize 
neural correlates and neural dynamics of multisensory temporal processing in deaf individuals focusing on 
the right superior temporal sulcus (rSTS), a multisensory region that is the likely candidate mediating 
behavioral alterations in multisensory temporal functions following auditory deprivation. Taken together, this 
work will provide insights into the brain mechanisms underlying multisensory temporal perception in deaf 
individuals.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10187691
- **Project number:** 5P20GM103650-09
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA RENO
- **Principal Investigator:** FANG JIANG
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $216,319
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** — → —

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10187691

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10187691, Multisensory temporal processing in early deaf adults (5P20GM103650-09). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10187691. Licensed CC0.

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