Mairéad MacSweeney
Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience
Prof Mairéad MacSweeneyProfessor of Cognitive NeuroscienceVisual Communication Group Leader |
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Research Summary
I explore how the brain processes language in people who are born profoundly deaf. Exploring the brains of adults with variable sensory and language experience allows a unique perspective on how experience shapes the brain. Working with deaf volunteers is the only way to address a number of important questions in cognitive neuroscience. For example, using fMRI we have shown that when auditory input is absent from birth, 'auditory' parts of the brain can process input from other senses, such as vision. We have also shown that the brain engages very similar networks to process signed and spoken language. This suggests that the brain treats language as language, regardless of whether it comes in via the eyes or the ears. Such advances are not only of theoretical interest, but may also have important practical implications for how we educate deaf children. In my current research, funded by Wellcome, I am examining the impact of altered sensory and language experience on the neural systems supporting language and literacy.