0000000000617494
AUTHOR
Paz Martínez-beneyto
Cortical neuroplasticity in children after early cochlear implantation
Hearing is crucial to learn and use language. Loss of hearing in children affects the development of speech, language and cognitive abilities, and severely impairs social capabilities. Thus, efforts to restore auditory perception are determinative and research should be focused on factors likely to bring about the best prognosis. Numerous experimental observations demonstrate that there is a sensitive or critical period for cochlear implantation. Implantations performed in prelingually deaf children in this period are associated with better results in terms of speech recognition and language acquisition. This is the time period in which brain plasticity shows its highest level of developmen…
[Paediatric cochlear implantation in the critical period of the auditory pathway, our experience].
Numerous experimental and clinical studies have suggested a critical or sensitive period in which the auditory pathway develops its greatest potential in terms of plasticity and learning. Early cochlear implantation performed in prelingual deaf children in this period provides a better prognosis for language acquisition. The aim of this study is to show the importance of cochlear implantation before this critical period ends.We conducted an observational, longitudinal, retrospective study of 57 children suffering profound prelingual bilateral sensorineural hearing loss who had received Advanced Bionics implants at our ENT department between June, 1998, and November, 2006. Data on their audi…