Erken Dönem Koklear İmplantasyonda Zamansal Işlemleme Fonksiyonlarının Değerlendirilmesi

Abstract

The central auditory processing is the processing and identification of complex sounds through the resolution on the auditory pathways. Temporal processing refers to processing of sound in time and plays a significant role on speech perception.Cochlear implant (CI) is a significant approach to develop the speech perception in prelingual deaf children. The age of implantation isone of the most important factors affecting auditory performance. In our study,the 9-10 year old children with CI whose ages for implantation were 1-2 (n:10), 2-3 (n:10) and 3-4 were included. We used Frequency Pattern Test (FPT), Duration Pattern Test (DPT), Random Gap Detection Test (RGDT) and Auditory Perception Test battry for Children. These test were compared within the CI groups and normal hearing control group(n=10). The correlation between auditory perception tests and behavioral central auditory tests was examined. Inresults, we found a significant difference in gap detection ability between control group and CI groups.While a significant difference was found between control group and 3-4 age of implantation groupin temporal ordering ability, no significant difference was found between the groups of implanted before 3 ages. Despite the fact that there was no significant difference within CI groups in the temporal processing ability, they had better performance as the implantation age decreases. A significant correlation was found among Daily Sentences Test and FPT, Potato Head Test and FPT rev(the score calculated by regarding the patterns stated reversely as correct), Visual-Auditory Integration Test and DPT rev. Early implanted children are able to reorganize the degeneration of auditory pathways which are caused by auditory deprivation and have similar performance with their normal hearing peers. The fact that the children who were implanted after the age of 3 have worse performance than children with normal hearing peers was associatedwith the long duration of the auditory deprivation, which was thought to have negatively affected the temporal processing ability. It is considered that the evaluation of the central auditory processing in the individuals with CI will contribute to the determination of the nature of disorder and give guidance to auditory rehabilitation.