Are there neuroanatomic differences in children with unilateral sensorineural hearing loss (USNHL)? Yes, has just answered a team of American researchers from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Using Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which provides information about neuronal excitation by measuring changes in cerebral hemodynamics, they have just published their results in the last edition of Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. These results show significant differences in the cortical processing of sound between children with severe to profound USNHL and normally hearing children. These differences may account for the functional auditory problems that children with USNHL. Source: Neuroanatomic Differences in Children With Unilateral Sensorineural Hearing Loss Detected Using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Evan J. Propst, John H. Greinwald, and Vincent Schmithorst. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2010; 136:22-26.