The motivation for infants' non-word vocalizations in the second half of the first year of life and later is unclear. This study of hearing infants and infants with profound hearing loss with and without cochlear implants addressed the hypothesis that vocalizations are primarily motivated by auditory feedback. Early access to cochlear implants has created unique conditions of auditory manipulation that permit empirical tests of relations between auditory perception and infant behavior. Evidence from two separate tests of the research hypothesis showed that, before cochlear implantation, infants with profound hearing loss vocalized significantly less often than hearing infants; however, soon after cochlear implantation, they vocalized at levels commensurate with hearing peers. In contrast, vocal behaviors that are typically considered reflexive or emotion-based signals (e.g., crying) were infrequent overall and did not vary with auditory access. These results support the hypothesis that auditory feedback is a critical component motivating early vocalization frequency.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2014.05.005 | DOI Listing |
Brain Commun
January 2025
Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Salzburg, 5020 Salzburg, Austria.
Former studies have established that individuals with a cochlear implant (CI) for treating single-sided deafness experience improved speech processing after implantation. However, it is not clear how each ear contributes separately to improve speech perception over time at the behavioural and neural level. In this longitudinal EEG study with four different time points, we measured neural activity in response to various temporally and spectrally degraded spoken words presented monaurally to the CI and non-CI ears (5 left and 5 right ears) in 10 single-sided CI users and 10 age- and sex-matched individuals with normal hearing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEar Hear
January 2025
Department of Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
Objectives: This study was designed to (1) compare preactivation and postactivation performance with a cochlear implant for children with functional preoperative low-frequency hearing, (2) compare outcomes of electric-acoustic stimulation (EAS) versus electric-only stimulation (ES) for children with versus without hearing preservation to understand the benefits of low-frequency acoustic cues, and (3) to investigate the relationship between postoperative acoustic hearing thresholds and performance.
Design: This was a prospective, 12-month between-subjects trial including 24 pediatric cochlear implant recipients with preoperative low-frequency functional hearing. Participant ages ranged from 5 to 17 years old.
Adv Sci (Weinh)
January 2025
ENT Institute and Department of Otolaryngology, Eye & ENT Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, 200031, China.
Tinnitus, a widespread condition affecting numerous individuals worldwide, remains a significant challenge due to limited effective therapeutic interventions. Intriguingly, patients using cochlear implants (CIs) have reported significant relief from tinnitus symptoms, although the underlying mechanisms remain unclear and intracochlear implantation risks cochlear damage and hearing loss. This study demonstrates that targeted intracochlear electrical stimulation (ES) in guinea pigs with noise-induced hearing loss reversed tinnitus-related maladaptive plasticity in the cochlear nucleus (CN), characterized by reduced auditory innervation, increased somatosensory innervation, and diminished inhibitory neural networks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: This study aims to investigate the impact of auditory input on postural control in young adult cochlear implant users with profound sensorineural hearing loss. The research explores the relationship between auditory cues and static postural stability in individuals with hearing impairment.
Methods: 34 young adult cochlear implant users, consisting of 15 males and 19 females aged 18-35 years, underwent various balance tests, including the modified Clinical Tests of Sensory Interaction on Balance (mCTSIB) and the Unilateral Stance Test (UST), under different auditory conditions: (1) White noise stimulus present with the sound processor activated, (2) Ambient noise present with the sound processor activated, and (3) Sound processor deactivated.
Otol Neurotol
January 2025
Department of Surgery, The University of Melbourne, The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, East Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Background: The aim of this study was to relate response patterns of electrocochleography (ECochG) recordings during cochlear implantation to pre- and postoperative hearing.
Methods: Thirty subjects with either flat (FA, n = 9) or sloping (SA, n = 21) audiograms before cochlear implantation were prospectively included. Real-time ECochG recordings were conducted via the cochlear implant.
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