Cochlear implants partially restore auditory sensation in individuals affected by severe to profound hearing loss. We investigated vowel detection, identification, and discrimination in a group of congenitally-deafened, unilaterally-implanted, Italian children and in a group of age-matched controls, by combining behavioral and neurophysiologic measures. Comparable vowel identification and discrimination performance emerged for cochlear-implant and normal- hearing ch ildren at the behavioral level. At the neurophysiologic level, on the other hand, cochlear-implant children appeared to lag behind their age-matched normal- hearing peers for vowel detection and identification, but not for vowel discrimination. Length of cochlear implant use sign ificantly affected vowel processing at the neurophysiologic level, although not systematically.
High vowel processing in deaf Italian children with unilateral cochlear implants: A neurophysiologic and behavioral study
GRIMALDI, Milko Antonino;
2013-01-01
Abstract
Cochlear implants partially restore auditory sensation in individuals affected by severe to profound hearing loss. We investigated vowel detection, identification, and discrimination in a group of congenitally-deafened, unilaterally-implanted, Italian children and in a group of age-matched controls, by combining behavioral and neurophysiologic measures. Comparable vowel identification and discrimination performance emerged for cochlear-implant and normal- hearing ch ildren at the behavioral level. At the neurophysiologic level, on the other hand, cochlear-implant children appeared to lag behind their age-matched normal- hearing peers for vowel detection and identification, but not for vowel discrimination. Length of cochlear implant use sign ificantly affected vowel processing at the neurophysiologic level, although not systematically.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
