Assessing Fine-Grained Speech Discrimination in Young Children With Bilateral Cochlear Implants

Area of Science:

• Pediatric audiology
• Speech perception research
• Cochlear implant technology

Background:

• Early cochlear implantation (<2 years) aims to improve oral communication in children with severe-to-profound deafness.
• Limited understanding exists regarding the consonant discrimination abilities of young children with cochlear implants.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess consonant contrast discrimination in young children with bilateral cochlear implants (BiCIs).
• To compare the discrimination abilities of children with BiCIs to age-matched normal-hearing (NH) children.
• To investigate the spectral-temporal cues available through clinical speech processors for consonant discrimination.

Main Methods:

• A Reaching for Sound paradigm was used to measure behavioral responses in 13 children with BiCIs (28-37 months) and 13 NH children.
• Four consonant contrast pairs were tested: place+voicing, place, voicing, and reduced voice-onset-time cue.
• Electrodograms were created to analyze spectral-temporal cues delivered by clinical speech processors.

Main Results:

• Children with BiCIs demonstrated above-chance consonant contrast discrimination but performed worse than NH children.
• Significant individual variability in discrimination performance was observed among children with BiCIs.
• Chronological age was a significant factor, correlating with improved place contrast discrimination in children with BiCIs.

Conclusions:

• Children with BiCIs can discriminate consonant contrasts using spectral-temporal cues, though less effectively than NH peers.
• Clinical speech processors provide access to necessary cues, but their saliency may be insufficient for optimal discrimination.
• Further research may explore strategies to enhance cue perception for improved speech understanding in pediatric cochlear implant users.