Email: snehab@utdallas.edu
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Research Summary

Role of auditory feedback in speech produced by cochlear-implanted children.

Approximately 60,000 people worldwide have received cochlear implant devices for their hearing. Following implantation, these individuals not only gain the ability to hear others, but also to hear themselves while they speak (auditory feedback). There is increasing evidence that auditory feedback (AF) is important for speech production. However, much remains to be understood regarding the role of AF, particularly for speech development. The specific aims of this research are to: (1) investigate properties of speech that are modified when cochlear-implanted children speak in the brief absence of AF; (2) compare effects of AF on speech produced by early-implanted (received cochlear implant before 3 years of age) versus late-implanted children (received implant after 5 years of age); and (3) determine the critical time interval between AF deprivation and concomitant changes in speech. The results will have both clinical and theoretical implications in that they (1) will inform clinicians of the minimal time window over which speech improvements can be expected following implantation, and (2) offer unique means of testing "internal model" based theories (e.g. Perkell et al., 2000) concerning the role auditory feedback during speech production.

This research is supported by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders [1R03DC7052-01].

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