Developmental Links Between Speech Perception in Noise, Singing, and Cortical Processing of Music in Children with Cochlear Implants

What is it about?

This article shows that 4 to 13 years old children with cochlear implants (CIs) develop similarly to normal-hearing peers in perception of speech in noise, and that this skill is better in children with more musical activities. That is, those children with CIs who sing regularly and whose parents have sung for them from early childhood are better in perception of speech in noise than other children with CIs. The article also shows that the perception of speech in noise in children with CIs is associated with the amplitude of MMN to a change of sound from piano to cymbal, and with earlier P3a for changes in timbre.

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Why is it important?

The results are the first in the field of hearing impairments, and for the first time, they suggest that singing and musical instrument playing have a potential to enhance the perception of speech in noise of children with CIs.