Executive functioning skills in preschool-age children with cochlear implants.

Area of Science:

• Pediatric audiology
• Developmental neuroscience
• Cognitive psychology

Background:

• Executive functioning (EF) is critical for cognitive development.
• Children with cochlear implants (CIs) often face developmental challenges.
• Early identification of EF deficits can guide intervention strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate early executive functioning (EF) deficits in preschool children with cochlear implants (CIs).
• To determine if EF challenges emerge before school age in children with CIs.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study comparing 24 preschoolers with CIs (implanted before 36 months) to 21 with normal hearing (NH).
• Assessed working memory, inhibition-concentration, and organization-integration using normed measures.
• Utilized parent-reported problem behavior scales related to EF.

Main Results:

• Preschoolers with CIs demonstrated significantly poorer performance in inhibition-concentration and working memory compared to NH peers and national norms.
• No significant differences were observed in visual memory or organization-integration.
• EF performance differences persisted after controlling for language, but parent-reported issues did not.

Conclusions:

• This study provides the first evidence of emerging executive functioning (EF) deficits in preschool children with cochlear implants (CIs).
• These findings highlight the importance of early detection of EF challenges for timely intervention and habilitation post-cochlear implantation.