After adult-onset hearing loss, an adaptation in the brain may improve vision
· Medical Xpressedited by Swati Mestri, reviewed by Andrew Zinin
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To adapt to changing environments and bodily functions across the life span, many mammals rely on compensatory changes in the brain. One major change as mammals age is that individual senses, such as hearing or vision, can be weakened or lost. Preclinical work suggests that when one sense is lost, cortical brain pathways adapt to improve the processing of remaining senses.
Hey-Kyoung Lee and colleagues from Johns Hopkins University extended this work in their JNeurosci paper by exploring the relationship between adult-onset hearing loss and visual adaptations in mice.
The researchers measured neural responses in a key visual brain area as mice were presented with visuals in either their immediate (focal) or peripheral visual fields. Hearing loss in adulthood didn't affect neural responses to visuals in focal visual fields, but neural responses to visuals in the periphery were strongly dampened.
Behavioral measures of mice with adult-onset hearing loss revealed that these mice perceived only peripheral visuals with greater clarity than mice without hearing loss, suggesting that this activity change may represent more efficient neural representations of peripheral visuals.
Says Lee, "Our work suggests, rather counterintuitively, that dampening neural activity may be beneficial by improving the brain's efficiency at processing information. Another main conclusion is that, at least in adults, [this visual brain area's] adaptation to hearing loss does not improve all visual function." The researchers plan to follow up on this work by exploring specific mechanisms in this visual brain area that can be leveraged to improve adult visual function.
Publication details
Adult-Onset Auditory Deprivation Enhances Attenuation of Neural Responses in the Visual Cortex and Improves Peripheral Visual Acuity, JNeurosci (2026). DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0690-26.2026
Journal information: Journal of Neuroscience
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Neurology Provided by Society for Neuroscience Who's behind this story?
Swati Mestri
Swati Mestri holds a bachelor's degree in Electronics Engineering and has worked as a content editor since 2019. She has experience editing research documents across technology, health care, and materials science, and has a particular interest in technology and space. Full profile →
Andrew Zinin
Master's in physics with research experience. Long-time science news enthusiast. Plays key role in Science X's editorial success. Full profile →
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