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Updated: Jun 12, 2026
06:04
Systematic Hearing Performance Evaluation Process for Adolescents with Cochlear Implantation at Early Ages
Published on: March 24, 2023
Spatial speech perception benefits in young children with normal hearing and cochlear implants.
Lieselot Van Deun1, Astrid van Wieringen, Jan Wouters
1ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, K.U. Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. lieselot.vandeun@med.kuleuven.be
Ear and Hearing
|June 16, 2010
Summary
Bilateral cochlear implants (CIs) help children with spatial speech perception, offering better-ear effects but not true binaural processing. This study developed a new test for children
Area of Science:
- Audiology
- Neuroscience
- Speech-Language Pathology
Background:
- Bilateral cochlear implants (CIs) improve speech perception in children, but benefits from binaural cues in spatial configurations are not fully understood.
- Limited data exists on binaural hearing in normal-hearing children and the capacity for electrical stimulation to enable binaural processing.
Purpose of the Study:
- Develop and validate a number-based speech test (LittleLINT) for rapid, accurate speech reception threshold (SRT) assessment in young children.
- Evaluate a setup for measuring spatial speech perception benefits in children and establish normative data for normal-hearing children.
- Assess spatial speech benefits in children with bilateral CIs, focusing on sound localization abilities.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the Leuven Intelligibility Number Test (LINT) database, adapting it to numbers 1-10 (LittleLINT) with speech-weighted noise.
- Tested monaural perception via headphones in normal-hearing children (4-5 yrs) and adults at fixed SNRs.
- Measured spatial speech perception benefits using an adaptive procedure in normal-hearing children (4-8 yrs), adults, and children with bilateral CIs, varying noise source direction.
Main Results:
- LittleLINT showed higher SRTs in children (-9 dB SNR) than adults (-13 dB SNR), with comparable efficiency to LINT.
- Normal-hearing subjects demonstrated spatial release from masking (SRM), head shadow, summation, and squelch effects, with SRM influenced by age.
- Bilateral CI users showed significant SRM (3 dB) and head shadow effects (4-6 dB), comparable to normal-hearing children, but lacked summation or binaural squelch.
Conclusions:
- The LittleLINT is suitable for efficient and accurate SRT estimation in children due to its familiarity and repeatability.
- Spatial speech perception benefits are evident in normal-hearing children from age 4.
- While bilateral CIs provide better-ear effects in children, evidence for true binaural processing is lacking.
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