Does hearing impairment lead to autism spectrum disorder?
Researchers from the College of Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina discovered that a brain development gene, MEF2C, also affects inner ear development.
“Hearing impairment may have an impact on the higher-level auditory system and, eventually, cognitive function,” said Hainan Lang, M.D., Ph.D., professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at MUSC and one of two senior authors of the study.