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10/14/2017  |   9:45 AM - 11:00 AM   |  East Ballroom at Shalala Student Services Building

Cochlear Implantation in the Aging Population

Cochlear implant (CI) recipients often attain good speech understanding in quiet situations; however, understanding abilities in the presence of background noise remain highly variable and unpredictable . While some patients clearly demonstrate benefit, others do not and inter-subject performance is highly variable even when the pre-operative hearing is controlled for. These results may be due to variability in ability to process sound in complex listening environments across CI recipients. Understanding speech in noise not only requires a functional peripheral auditory system, but also higher levels of processing. Specifically, working memory has been linked to understanding in background noise. Individuals with a lower capacity of working memory demonstrate difficulty understanding in background noise, which is further exacerbated with age and hearing loss. Currently, cochlear implant candidacy is highly dependent upon speech understanding scores only and tests of cognition are not included when studies suggest working memory is one of the most highly associated variables in predicting masked speech recognition. The significant decrease in hearing performance for listening in noise often allows patients to meet candidacy criteria for cochlear implantation when performance in quiet may exceed meet traditional candidacy. While improved performance of speech understanding in quiet has been well established, improved listening in noise performance remains variable and less predictive. The inability to predict level of improvement for a potential cochlear implant recipient creates difficulty in pre-operative counseling and setting realistic expectations. It is possible a candidate with good understanding in quiet and poor understanding in noise prior to surgery may indicate a working memory deficit and provide insight to expected post-operative benefit.

• Discuss current candidacy guidelines and testing protocols
• Describe the role of working memory in speech understanding in noise.
• Understand the limitations of speech testing materials when considering cochlear implantation in the aging population

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Sandra Prentiss (POC,Primary Presenter,Author), University of Miami, s.prentiss@med.miami.edu;

ASHA DISCLOSURE: Financial - Nonfinancial -

AAA DISCLOSURE: Financial - No relevant financial relationship exists.