Restoring binaural hearing in children with single sided deafness

The goal of this research project is to investigate the cortical reorganisation of children with single sided deafness (SSD) following intervention with a CI (SSD-CI), compared to a group of children with SSD but not fitted with a CI (SSD-noCI) and a group of children with NH. SSD significantly affects cortical symmetry, as it results in an increased dominant representation of the normal ear compared to the deaf ear. However, research shows that early intervention in children with SSD can restore the hemispheric representations of bilateral auditory input in the auditory cortex. In Leuven currently 15 infants with SSD have received a CI and their behavioural performance (language, cognition) is compared to those with SSD without a CI and NH children. Using EEG-based objective measures, we will investigate the binaural restoration at the subcortical and cortical level of the auditory pathway in children who are four years and older. It is expected that hemispheric asymmetry differs for those who process sounds on only one side compared to those with bilateral input, and that binaural integration will be (partially) restored for those with a CI.