Neurocognitive Functioning in Deaf Children with Cochlear Implants

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
William G. Kronenberger ◽  
David B. Pisoni
Keyword(s):  
Executive Function ◽  
Executive Functioning ◽  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Deaf Children ◽  
Neurocognitive Functions ◽  
Hearing Children ◽  
Prelingually Deaf

Cochlear implantation restores some attributes of hearing and spoken language to prelingually deaf children. However, reduced access to auditory and spoken-language experiences for children with cochlear implants can alter the development of downstream neurocognitive functions such as sequential processing and self-regulatory language skills, which are critical building blocks for executive functioning. Executive functioning is the active regulation of cognitive, behavioral, and emotional processes in the service of planned, organized, controlled, goal-driven behavior. This chapter presents findings from two primary lines of research on the development of executive functioning in prelingually deaf, early implanted children with cochlear implants. The first is identification of specific executive function domains that are at risk for delay in children with cochlear implants compared to hearing children. The second is reciprocal influences of executive function and spoken-language skills throughout development in children and adolescents with cochlear implants.

scholarly journals Longitudinal Development of Executive Functioning and Spoken Language Skills in Preschool-Aged Children With Cochlear Implants

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 1128-1147 ◽  
Author(s):  
William G. Kronenberger ◽  
Huiping Xu ◽  
David B. Pisoni
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Functioning ◽  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Parent Report ◽  
Longitudinal Development ◽  
Spoken Language Skills ◽  
Over Time

Purpose Auditory deprivation has downstream effects on the development of language and executive functioning (EF) in prelingually deaf children with cochlear implants (CIs), but little is known about the very early development of EF during preschool ages in children with CIs. This study investigated the longitudinal development of EF and spoken language skills in samples of children with normal hearing (NH; N = 40) or CIs ( N = 41) during preschool ages. Method Participants were enrolled in the study between ages 3 and 6 years and evaluated annually up to the age of 7 years. Mixed-effects models were used to evaluate and predict growth of spoken language and EF skills over time. Results Children with CIs scored lower than NH peers on language measures but improved significantly over time. On performance-based neurocognitive measures of controlled attention, inhibition, and working memory, children with CIs scored more poorly than the sample of NH peers but comparable to norms, whereas on a parent report behavior checklist, children with CIs scored more poorly than both NH peers and norms on inhibition and working memory. Children with CIs had poorer EF than the sample of NH peers in most domains even after accounting for language effects, and language predicted only the verbal working memory domain of EF. In contrast, EF skills consistently predicted language skills at subsequent visits. Conclusions Findings demonstrate that, despite significant improvement over time, some domains of EF (particularly parent-reported EF) and language skills in children with CIs lag behind those of children with NH during preschool ages. Language delays do not fully explain differences in EF development between children with CIs and NH peers during preschool ages, but EF skills predict subsequent language development in children with CIs.

Identification of TV Tunes by Children with Cochlear Implants

2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tara Vongpaisal ◽  
Sandra E. Trehub ◽  
E. Glenn Schellenberg
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Deaf Children ◽  
Original Music ◽  
Closed Set ◽  
Pitch Processing ◽  
Hearing Children ◽  
Prelingually Deaf

INTRINSIC PITCH PROCESSING LIMITATIONS OF cochlear implants constrain the perception of music, particularly melodies. We tested child implant users' ability to recognize music on the basis of incidental exposure.Using a closed-set task, prelingually deaf children with implants and hearing children were required to identify three renditions of the theme music from their favorite TV programs: a flute rendition of the main (sung) melody, a full instrumental version without lyrics, and the original music. Although child implant users were less accurate than hearing children, they successfully identified all versions of songs at above-chance levels——a finding that contradicts widespread claims of child and adult implant users' difficulties with melody identification.We attribute their success primarily to timing cues that match those of the original music.

scholarly journals Speed of Information Processing and Working Memory in Children with Cochlear Implants

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Reid Herran ◽  
David Pisoni ◽  
William Kronenberger
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Information Processing ◽  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Deaf Children ◽  
Language Outcomes ◽  
Response Latencies ◽  
Speed Of Information Processing

Background: Cochlear implants (CIs) restore partial hearing to deaf children, promoting the development of spoken language skills. However, because of reduced auditory and language experience, children who receive CIs are at risk for delays not only in language skills but also in language-related neurocognitive skills such as verbal working memory (VWM - the ability to retain language information in immediate memory concurrently with other cognitive processing). Although VWM delays in children with CIs are well-documented, the foundational processes underlying these delays are less clear. This study investigated the hypotheses that slower speed of information processing during VWM tasks contributes to VWM delays in CI users and that this slower information processing speed is associated with spoken language outcomes.    Methods: 25 early-implanted, prelingually-deaf children with CIs and 25 normal-hearing (NH) peers completed tests of VWM, neurocognitive, and speech-language functioning. Speed of information processing during the VWM test was assessed by measuring response latency and average pause duration.    Results: Children with CIs showed poorer VWM scores than NH peers, but the groups did not differ on response latencies or pause durations. Response latencies were significantly correlated with VWM capacity, speech, and language outcomes in both groups.    Conclusion: Speed of information processing in VWM was similar for children with CIs and NH. In both groups, shorter response latencies (faster speed of execution of the cognitive operations of working memory) were associated with better neurocognitive and spoken language outcomes. In the CI sample, pause durations were inconsistently associated with VWM and language outcomes.    Clinical Policy Impact and Implications: Speed of information processing for VWM is associated with core neurocognitive and spoken language outcomes for children with CIs and should be a routine target of assessment and intervention post-implantation.  

Why Are Children with Cochlear Implants at Risk for Executive Functioning Delays?

2020 ◽  
pp. 247-267
Author(s):  
William G. Kronenberger ◽  
David B. Pisoni
Keyword(s):  
Executive Functioning ◽  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Family Environment ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Deaf Children ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Model Research ◽  
Psychosocial Influences ◽  
Auditory Experience

Prelingually deaf children with cochlear implants (CIs) have about 2 to 5 times more risk for delays in specific domains of executive functioning (EF) than normal-hearing (NH) children, with about 25% to 40% of children with CIs showing delays in specific EF subdomains. This chapter reviews the rationale and evidence for two theoretical approaches to explaining this elevated risk for EF delay: language-focused approaches and biopsychosocial systems theories, such as the auditory neurocognitive model. Research supporting language-focused approaches, which attribute risk of EF delays entirely to language delays, has significant limitations. Furthermore, results from an extensive data set of EF outcomes in CI users are inconsistent with language-focused approaches. In contrast, biopsychosocial systems theories, which attribute risk for EF delay to a system of factors, including auditory experience, language, family environment/experiences, fluid intelligence, and psychosocial influences, provide the strongest evidence and potential for explaining EF delays and outcomes in children with CIs.

scholarly journals Talker Discrimination by Prelingually Deaf Children with Cochlear Implants: Preliminary Results

2002 ◽  
Vol 111 (5_suppl) ◽  
pp. 113-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miranda Cleary ◽  
David B. Pisoni
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Deaf Children ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
School Age ◽  
Sentence Condition ◽  
Language Outcome ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Hearing Children ◽  
Proportion Correct ◽  
Linguistic Content

Forty-four school-age children who had used a multichannel cochlear implant (CI) for at least 4 years were tested to assess their ability to discriminate differences between recorded pairs of female voices uttering sentences. Children were asked to respond “same voice” or “different voice” on each trial. Two conditions were examined. In one condition, the linguistic content of the sentence was always held constant and only the talker's voice varied from trial to trial. In another condition, the linguistic content of the utterance also varied so that to correctly respond “same voice,” the child needed to recognize that Two different sentences were spoken by the same talker. Data from normal-hearing children were used to establish that these tasks were well within the capabilities of children without hearing impairment. For the children with CIs, in the “fixed sentence condition” the mean proportion correct was 68%, which, although significantly different from the 50% score expected by chance, suggests that the children with CIs found this discrimination task rather difficult. In the “varied sentence condition,” however, the mean proportion correct was only 57%, indicating that the children were essentially unable to recognize an unfamiliar talker's voice when the linguistic content of the paired sentences differed. Correlations with other speech and language outcome measures are also reported.

scholarly journals Speech production in prelingually deaf children with cochlear implants: Formant analysis of japanese vowels

2013 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 298-305
Author(s):  
Satoko Kasai ◽  
Norihito Takeichi ◽  
Nobuyuki Obara ◽  
Noriko Nishizawa ◽  
Eiko Tamashige ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Deaf Children ◽  
Formant Analysis ◽  
Prelingually Deaf

scholarly journals Deaf children need language, not (just) speech

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 367-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew L. Hall ◽  
Wyatte C. Hall ◽  
Naomi K. Caselli
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Research Evidence ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Deaf Children ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Language Deprivation ◽  
Language Exposure ◽  
Harmful Effects

Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) children need to master at least one language (spoken or signed) to reach their full potential. Providing access to a natural sign language supports this goal. Despite evidence that natural sign languages are beneficial to DHH children, many researchers and practitioners advise families to focus exclusively on spoken language. We critique the Pediatrics article ‘Early Sign Language Exposure and Cochlear Implants’ (Geers et al., 2017) as an example of research that makes unsupported claims against the inclusion of natural sign languages. We refute claims that (1) there are harmful effects of sign language and (2) that listening and spoken language are necessary for optimal development of deaf children. While practical challenges remain (and are discussed) for providing a sign language-rich environment, research evidence suggests that such challenges are worth tackling in light of natural sign languages providing a host of benefits for DHH children – especially in the prevention and reduction of language deprivation.

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