Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 26, 2026
Systematic Hearing Performance Evaluation Process for Adolescents with Cochlear Implantation at Early Ages
Published on: March 24, 2023
Rapid bilateral improvement in auditory cortex activity in postlingually deafened adults following cochlear
Pascale Sandmann1, Karsten Plotz2, Nadine Hauthal3
1Central Auditory Diagnostics Lab, Department of Neurology, Cluster of Excellence "Hearing4all", Hannover Medical School, 30625 Hannover, Germany; Neuropsychology Lab, Department of Psychology, Cluster of Excellence "Hearing4all", European Medical School, University of Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany.
Objective:
Cochlear implants (CIs) can partially restore hearing, but the cortical changes underlying auditory rehabilitation are not well understood.
Methods:
This prospective longitudinal study used electroencephalography (EEG) to examine the temporal dynamics of changes in the auditory cortex contralateral and ipsilateral to the CI. Postlingually deafened CI recipients (N=11; mean: 59years) performed an auditory frequency discrimination task after <1week, 8weeks, 15weeks, and 59weeks of CI use.
Results:
The CI users revealed a remarkable improvement in auditory discrimination ability which was most pronounced over the first eight weeks of CI experience. At the same time, CI users developed N1 auditory event-related potentials (AEP) with significantly enhanced amplitude and decreased latency, both in the auditory cortex contralateral and ipsilateral to the CI. A relationship was found between the duration of deafness and the ipsilateral AEP latency.
Conclusions:
Postlingually deafened adult CI users show rapid adaptation of the bilateral auditory cortex. Cortical plasticity is limited after long duration of auditory deprivation.
Significance:
The finding of rapid and limited cortical changes in adult CI recipients may be of clinical relevance and can help estimate the role of plasticity for therapeutic gain.
