Speaking Rate, Immediate Memory, and Grammatical Processing in Prelingual Cochlear Implant Recipients

Area of Science:

• Auditory Neuroscience
• Speech-Language Pathology
• Linguistics

Background:

• Cochlear implants (CIs) are vital for restoring hearing in individuals with prelingual deafness.
• Understanding speech production in CI users is crucial for improving communication outcomes.
• The relationship between speech fluency and cognitive factors like verbal memory in CI users requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare speaking rate between prelingual cochlear implant (CI) users and typical-hearing (TH) individuals.
• To investigate the correlation between speaking rate and immediate verbal memory in CI users.
• To explore the influence of syntactic complexity on speech production in CI users.

Main Methods:

• 10 prelingual CI users and 10 age-matched TH participants repeated nonword strings, word strings, and center-embedded sentences.
• Immediate verbal memory was assessed using digit span forward and backward tasks.
• Speaking rate was analyzed using mixed-design ANOVA; correlations with digit spans were examined using Pearson correlation.

Main Results:

• CI users demonstrated a slower speaking rate than TH peers during sentence repetition, but not for nonword or word strings.
• For CI users, speaking rate in sentence tasks correlated significantly with both digit span forward and backward scores.
• No significant correlations between speaking rate and verbal memory were found for the TH group.

Conclusions:

• Slowed speech production in prelingual CI users is linked to reduced immediate verbal memory, especially in syntactic processing.
• Immediate verbal memory, including central executive functions, appears to influence speaking rate in CI users.
• Findings have implications for developing speech fluency therapies for CI recipients.