Hemispheric lateralization in children with single sided deafness with cochlear implants

The aural preference syndrome, a cortical reorganization process in response to unilateral auditory deprivation, has been demonstrated in cats and in humans. It causes an increased dominant representation of the normal hearing ear compared to the deaf ear, resulting in biased input to higher-order cortical areas, especially if the onset of unilateral deafness is before or around the peak of functional synaptogenesis. It is expected that early intervention with a CI can prevent or reverse this reorganization process. Literature demonstrated that with ongoing CI experience, cortical activation in response to sound is restored to partially normal. In our study, we will assess the cortical reorganization in the children with SSD with a CI, compared to the children with SSD without a CI and children with normal hearing groups. Using electroencephalography (EEG), a non-invasive method to measure brain activity with the high temporal resolution, we will examine the temporal patterns with auditory-steady-state responses.