15th ANNUAL EARLY HEARING DETECTION & INTERVENTION MEETING
March 13-15, 2016 • San Diego, CA

3/15/2016 | 3:00 PM - 3:30 PM | Topical Session 7 | Towne/Esquire | 3 - Language Acquisition and Development

Auditory and Visual Electrophysiology of Deaf Children with Cochlear Implants: Implications for Cross Modal Plasticity

Cochlear implants (CIs) have become a popular treatment option for deaf children. These devices deliver electrical stimulation to the auditory nerve, bypassing malfunctioning peripheral auditory mechanisms. Deaf children who receive a cochlear implant early in life and engage in intensive oral/aural therapy often make great strides in spoken language acquisition. However, despite clinicians’ best efforts, even under optimal conditions, there is a great deal of variability in language outcomes (Tobey et al., 2012). The interplay of factors contributing to this lack of success is poorly understood (Geers et al., 2008; Peterson et al., 2010; Svirsky et al., 2006). One increasing concern is that under conditions of deafness, the auditory system is subject to maladaptive cross-modal plasticity (CMP) (Kral and Sharma, 2012; Sharma and Mitchell, 2013). In the case of deafness, the processing demands of an intact sensory system, such as vision, may recruit nascent auditory cortex making it less available for speech processing. While research has reported evidence of cross-modal plasticity in deaf adults, no studies to date have directly presented evidence for cross-modal plasticity in deaf children with cochlear implants. The present study uses electrophysiological measurements to assess auditory and visual processing in deaf children with cochlear implants. We examine the relationship between children who show abnormal auditory responses and their response to a peripheral visual stimulus. Our findings identify a subset of deaf children with cochlear implants who show abnormal auditory cortical evoked potentials. These same children are more likely to show an unusual visual evoked response that differs from typically developing hearing children and from deaf CI users with typical cortical auditory evoked potentials. We suggest that this pattern of auditory and visual responses in deaf children with cochlear implants may be indicative of cross-modal plasticity.

The goal of this presentation is to explain the research on the brain development of deaf children with cochlear implants in a manner that is accessible to non-neuroscientists.
How electrophysiological measurements are to assess auditory and visual processing in deaf children with cochlear implants.
Discuss the role of language choice and cross modal plasticity

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