Change of phonation control after cochlear implantation

Area of Science:

• Audiology
• Speech-language pathology
• Otolaryngology

Background:

• Deafness significantly impacts voice production.
• Cochlear implantation restores auditory input, potentially influencing vocal parameters.
• Understanding post-implantation voice changes is crucial for rehabilitation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effect of acquired auditory feedback on voice parameters in prelingually deafened children and postlingually deafened adults after cochlear implantation.
• To compare voice parameter changes between pediatric and adult cochlear implant recipients.

Main Methods:

• Prospective clinical study involving 29 children and 11 adults with cochlear implants.
• Acoustic analysis of vowel /a/ samples before and 6-12 months post-implantation using the Multi-Dimensional Voice Program.
• Measured parameters included fundamental frequency (F0), jitter (JIT), shimmer (SH), very long-term F0 variation (vF0), amplitude variation (vAm), and noise-to-harmonic ratio (NHR).

Main Results:

• Children exhibited significantly greater JIT, SH, vF0, and vAm compared to adults, both pre- and post-implantation.
• Prelingually deafened children showed significant improvements in JIT, SH, vF0, and vAm after cochlear implantation (p<0.05).
• Postlingually deafened adults did not demonstrate significant improvements in any voice parameters post-implantation. F0 remained largely unchanged in both groups.

Conclusions:

• Cochlear implantation led to significant voice control improvements in deaf children, likely due to acquired hearing and neural adaptation.
• Adult cochlear implant recipients showed limited voice improvement, possibly due to established phonation patterns.
• Acquired auditory feedback plays a vital role in refining vocal control, particularly in developing systems like those in children.