Evaluation of auditory cortical development in the early stages of post cochlear implantation using mismatch negativity measurement

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate auditory cortical development using mismatch negativity (MMN) in prelingual severe-to-profound hearing-impaired children from the stage of cochlear implant (CI) power-up to 6 months after power-up. METHOD: Eighteen children were recruited and examined at the stage of CI initial power-up (M0), as well as several follow-up periods, that is, 1 month (M1), 3 months (M3), and 6 months (M6) after CI power-up. The MMN responses were measured using a 128-Channel Dense Array EEG System. The group average and individual MMN analysis were used to investigate the longitudinal changes of the MMN characteristics. The relationship between MMN characteristics and scores of categories of auditory performance (CAP) was also investigated. RESULTS: Although the MMN incidence was much lower at the periods of M0 and M1, significantly higher MMN incidence was found in M3 and M6. The MMN latencies decreased significantly from M3 to M6, but no significant difference in the amplitudes was found between these periods. There was a negative correlation between the increment of CAP scores and decrement of MMN latency from M3 to M6. CONCLUSION: MMN incidence increment and latency decrement are likely to be the objective and noninvasive indicators for evaluating auditory central development at an early stage in children after cochlear implantation. Moreover, the latency decrement from M3 to M6 correlated significantly with the increment of the CAP scores, indicating a fast maturation period, which might be a key period for auditory rehabilitation.