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Brain Sciences
Special Issues
Cognition and the Hearing Brain: Neural Plasticity, Perception and Rehabilitation
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Cognition and the Hearing Brain: Neural Plasticity, Perception and Rehabilitation

A special issue of Brain Sciences (ISSN 2076-3425). This special issue belongs to the section "Systems Neuroscience".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 October 2026 | Viewed by 1352

Editors

Dr. Adam S. Greenberg

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Biomedical Engineering Department, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA
Interests: cognitive neuroscience; auditory; brain network
Dr. Michael S. Harris

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Otolaryngology Department, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA
Interests: cognition; ear diseases; cochlea; auditory perception; hearing loss

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Hearing loss affects over 1.5 billion people worldwide and has emerged as a significant modifiable risk factor for cognitive decline. Yet the neural mechanisms linking auditory and cognitive function remain incompletely understood. This Special Issue brings together research at the intersection of auditory neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience, and hearing rehabilitation to advance our understanding of how the brain processes sound, adapts to hearing loss, and responds to intervention.

We invite original research, reviews, and theoretical perspectives addressing topics including the cognitive consequences of hearing loss; neural plasticity following auditory deprivation and restoration; speech and music perception in listeners with normal and impaired hearing; cognitive predictors of cochlear implant outcomes; auditory training and cognitive rehabilitation approaches; and neuroimaging investigations of the hearing brain. Submissions employing behavioral, electrophysiological, and neuroimaging methodologies are welcome, as are studies spanning basic science and clinical applications.

This collection aims to foster dialog across disciplines and accelerate translation of neuroscience findings into improved rehabilitative care for individuals with hearing loss.

Dr. Adam S. Greenberg
Dr. Michael S. Harris
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Brain Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • cochlear implants
  • hearing loss
  • cognition
  • cognitive decline/impairment
  • music perception
  • speech perception
  • auditory neuroscience
  • cognitive neuroscience
  • hearing rehabilitation

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

13 pages, 1779 KB  
Article
Dynamic Interaction Between Structural Asymmetry and Attention in the Right-Ear Advantage Revealed by MEG-Based ASSRs
by Keita Tanaka, Reo Yamada, Manami Kanamaru, Chie Obuchi, Hidehiko Okamoto, Takanori Kato and Hiromu Sakai
Brain Sci. 2026, 16(3), 286; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci16030286 - 4 Mar 2026
Viewed by 781
Abstract
Background/Objectives: The dichotic listening test (DLT) is widely used to assess auditory attention and hemispheric language lateralization, with the right-ear advantage (REA) representing a robust behavioral phenomenon. Although the REA is often attributed to structural asymmetries in auditory pathways and left-hemisphere dominance [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: The dichotic listening test (DLT) is widely used to assess auditory attention and hemispheric language lateralization, with the right-ear advantage (REA) representing a robust behavioral phenomenon. Although the REA is often attributed to structural asymmetries in auditory pathways and left-hemisphere dominance for speech processing, the neural mechanisms by which selective attention modulates this asymmetry remain unclear. This study examined how directed auditory attention influences the REA and its neural correlates using magnetoencephalography (MEG)-based auditory steady-state responses (ASSRs). Methods: Fifteen right-handed participants performed directed-attention dichotic listening tasks during MEG recording. One participant was excluded from MEG analyses due to excessive noise contamination, resulting in 14 participants included in neural analyses. Participants attended to either the left or right ear throughout each session and reported the perceived stimulus from the attended ear. Dichotic speech stimuli were amplitude-modulated at 35 Hz and 45 Hz for frequency tagging. ASSR amplitudes were extracted from the left and right auditory cortices and analyzed in relation to behavioral accuracy using correlation analyses and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Results: Behavioral accuracy was significantly higher during right-ear attention than left-ear attention, indicating a residual REA. ASSR amplitudes tended to be higher during left-ear attention. Importantly, during left-ear attention, ASSR amplitude in the left auditory cortex showed a significant positive correlation with behavioral accuracy, whereas no such association was observed during right-ear attention. Conclusions: These findings indicate that the REA reflects a dynamic interaction between structural auditory asymmetry and top-down attentional control, with successful left-ear listening relying on compensatory recruitment of the left auditory cortex. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cognition and the Hearing Brain: Neural Plasticity, Perception and Rehabilitation)
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