Compensatory Reorganization of Cortical Brain Activity Associated with Processing Emotional Information at Auditory Deprivation

The present study was conducted to explore the reorganization of cortical activity associated with a self-assessment of emotional reactivity and emotion use of university students with hearing impairment compared to control group of persons with normal hearing. For this purpose, the emotional intelligence scale was used due to emotional ability model of personality. Cortical activity was measured by multichannel EEG. Results showed that the persons with acquired sensorineural hearing loss were characterized by lower scores of the emotional intelligence components and higher power of the delta rhythm than the control group. Different relations between emotional intelligence components and EEG power were revealed in these groups. The deaf group was characterized by positive correlations between the “responsive distress” component and the high-frequency gamma rhythm diffusely distributed in the cortex, whereas control group demonstrated positive relations between the “attending to emotions” component and the low-frequency theta rhythm in the posterior areas of cortex. Obtained results indicate the reorganization cortical activity associated with emotional information processing of the persons with hearing impairments. These changes in cortical activity reflect strengthening role of the high-frequency gamma oscillations while weakening contribution of the low-frequency theta rhythm in emotional adjustment at conditions of the auditory deprivation.