Fig. 1 –
Experimental design of the TMS study. A) Hearing and deaf participants performed a lexical task in sign language, requiring discrimination between signs and pseudosigns. Each run started with a fixation cross (15 s). The stimuli were ~2 s long and were followed by a fixation cross displayed for 3–5 s. Response time was counted from the stimulus onset until 1 s after its end. Pulses were administered at 400, 600, 800, 1000 and 1200 ms post-stimulus onset (5 Hz). B) TMS was delivered to three target sites–right SPL, left SPL and a control site–the occipital pole at 110% of the individual motor threshold.