Auditory Sensory Memory and Working Memory Processes in Children with Normal Hearing and Cochlear Implants

Abstract

There can be wide variation in the level of oral/aural language ability that prelingually hearing-impaired children develop after cochlear implantation. Automatic perceptual processing mechanisms have come under increasing scrutiny in attempts to explain this variation. Using mismatch negativity methods, this study explored associations between auditory sensory memory mechanisms and verbal working memory function in children with cochlear implants and a group of hearing controls of similar age. Whilst clear relationships were observed in the hearing children between mismatch activation and working memory measures, this association appeared to be disrupted in the implant children. These findings would fit with the proposal that early auditory deprivation and a degraded auditory signal can cause changes in the processes underpinning the development of oral/aural language skills in prelingually hearing-impaired children with cochlear implants and thus alter their developmental trajectory.

Working memory, short-term memory and reading proficiency in school-age children with cochlear implants

“…Studies have identified both strengths and weaknesses in working memory (WM) and STM skills of children with hearing loss [13,14] Specifically, studies have shown deficits in digit span and non-word repetition measures and shorter verbal memory spans in children with CI [15]; [16]. More recently, Harris and colleagues compared cognitive functions in children with CI to their normal-hearing peers [12].…”

Potencial De Disparidad

“…Además no presentaron diferencias de la amplitud del MMN registrado ipsilateral o contralateral al implante coclear, sugiriendo que la estimulación eléctrica del nervio auditivo activa ambos hemisferios en sujetos con hipoacusia profunda bilateral 53 . También se ha estudiado el MMN en niños con sordera profunda bilateral prelingual con implante coclear (tiempo transcurrido tras el implante fue de por lo menos 45 meses), comparados con niños normales, utilizando tonos de 500 y 2500 Hz, sin encontrar diferencias significativas en la magnitud del MMN 54 . Estos trabajos muestran que el MMN en pacientes implantados es similar al que se obtiene en controles normales.…”

“…Estos trabajos muestran que el MMN en pacientes implantados es similar al que se obtiene en controles normales. Sin embargo, éstos han sido realizados en pacientes implantados con buen desempeño en tareas psico-acústicas [52][53][54] . Sin embargo otros estudios han encontrado que sólo en algunos de los pacientes con implantes cocleares se puede obtener un MMN.…”

Language Skills, Oral Narrative Production, and Executive Functions of Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

“…The results showed reduced WM span in this population and that WM correlated with vocabulary use, abstract reasoning, and receptive language comprehension as well as speech perception and speech intelligibility scores. The deficits in WM span and the correlations between WM and language abilities have been repeatedly confirmed by an extended number of children who are DHH in later studies across different types of WM tasks (e.g., digit span, nonword span, competing language processing task, and sentence memory), ages, or nations (Dillon, Burkholder, Cleary, & Pisoni, 2004;Dunn & Markwardt, 1989;Engel-Yeger, Durr, & Josman, 2011;Harris, Kronenberg, Gao, Hoen, Miyamoto, & Pisoni, 2012;Houston, Beer, Bergerson, Chin, Pisoni, & Miyamoto, 2012;Ibertsoon, WillstedtSvensson, Radeborg, & Sahlen, 2008;Kronenberger, Pisoni, Henning, Colson, & Hazzard, 2011;May-Mederake, & Shehata-Dieler, 2013;Mitchell & Quittner, 1996;Pisoni & Cleary, 2003;Pisoni, Kronenberger, Roman & Geers, 2011;Watson, Titterington, Henry, & Toner, 2007;Willstedt-Svensson, Loefqvist, Almqvist, & Sahlen, 2004).…”