Cochlear implants can restore hearing in young children

1 December 2005

New research shows that cochlear implants in very young animals can create new nerve fibres that transmit sound and restore hearing by reversing or preventing damage to the brain’s auditory system.

Professor David Ryugo, who led the research at Johns Hopkins University in the USA said "What we think this study tells parents of deaf children is that if cochlear implants are being considered, the earlier they’re done the better. There is an optimal time window for implants if they are to avoid permanent rewiring of hearing stations in the brain and the long-term effects on language learning that can result."

The Hopkins team, building on years of experience with cochlear implants in children and adults, now has more evidence to support their recommendation that the devices be installed by age two, or earlier.

Cochlear implants are tiny devices designed to mimic the snail-like structure in the inner ear, which contains fluid-filled canals and tissues. It is here that sound vibrations are picked up by the ear drum and translated into electrical signals, which are transmitted through nerve fibres to the brain.

Unlike hearing aids, which simply amplify sound through an intact auditory nerve-to-brain system, cochlear implants are much more complicated. Composed of two parts, the devices simulate hearing by picking up sound through an external microphone located behind the ear and outside the scalp and then transmitting sound as electrical signals across the skin to an implanted receiver that is directly attached to the brain.

 John Hopkins University press release
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