Neuropsychological Functions and Audiological Findings in Elderly Cochlear Implant Users: The Role of Attention in Postoperative Performance

Ilaria Giallini; Bianca Maria Serena Inguscio; Maria Nicastri; Ginevra Portanova; Andrea Ciofalo; Annalisa Pace; Antonio Greco; Hilal Dincer D’Alessandro; Patrizia Mancini

doi:10.3390/audiolres13020022

Audiology Research (Mar 2023)

Neuropsychological Functions and Audiological Findings in Elderly Cochlear Implant Users: The Role of Attention in Postoperative Performance

Ilaria Giallini,
Bianca Maria Serena Inguscio,
Maria Nicastri,
Ginevra Portanova,
Andrea Ciofalo,
Annalisa Pace,
Antonio Greco,
Hilal Dincer D’Alessandro,
Patrizia Mancini

Affiliations

Ilaria Giallini: Department of Sense Organs, University Sapienza of Rome, Policlinico Umberto I, Viale dell’Università 31, 00161 Rome, Italy
Bianca Maria Serena Inguscio: Department of Sense Organs, University Sapienza of Rome, Policlinico Umberto I, Viale dell’Università 31, 00161 Rome, Italy
Maria Nicastri: Department of Sense Organs, University Sapienza of Rome, Policlinico Umberto I, Viale dell’Università 31, 00161 Rome, Italy
Ginevra Portanova: Department of Sense Organs, University Sapienza of Rome, Policlinico Umberto I, Viale dell’Università 31, 00161 Rome, Italy
Andrea Ciofalo: Department of Sense Organs, University Sapienza of Rome, Policlinico Umberto I, Viale dell’Università 31, 00161 Rome, Italy
Annalisa Pace: Department of Sense Organs, University Sapienza of Rome, Policlinico Umberto I, Viale dell’Università 31, 00161 Rome, Italy
Antonio Greco: Department of Sense Organs, University Sapienza of Rome, Policlinico Umberto I, Viale dell’Università 31, 00161 Rome, Italy
Hilal Dincer D’Alessandro: Department of Audiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Hacettepe University, 06230 Ankara, Turkey
Patrizia Mancini: Department of Sense Organs, University Sapienza of Rome, Policlinico Umberto I, Viale dell’Università 31, 00161 Rome, Italy

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/audiolres13020022
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 13, no. 2
pp. 236 – 253

Abstract

Read online

Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate in a group of elderly CI users working memory and attention, conventionally considered as predictors of better CI performance and to try to disentangle the effects of these cognitive domains on speech perception, finding potential markers of cognitive decline related to audiometric findings. Methods Thirty postlingually deafened CI users aged >60 underwent an audiological evaluation followed by a cognitive assessment of attention and verbal working memory. A correlation analysis was performed to evaluate the associations between cognitive variables while a simple regression investigated the relationships between cognitive and audiological variables. Comparative analysis was performed to compare variables on the basis of subjects’ attention performance. Results: Attention was found to play a significant role in sound field and speech perception. Univariate analysis found a significant difference between poor and high attention performers, while regression analysis showed that attention significantly predicted recognition of words presented at Signal/Noise +10. Further, the high attention performers showed significantly higher scores than low attentional performers for all working memory tasks. Conclusion: Overall findings confirmed that a better cognitive performance may positively contribute to better speech perception outcomes, especially in complex listening situations. WM may play a crucial role in storage and processing of auditory-verbal stimuli and a robust attention may lead to better performance for speech perception in noise. Implementation of cognitive training in auditory rehabilitation of CI users should be investigated in order to improve cognitive and audiological performance in elderly CI users.

Published in Audiology Research

ISSN: 2039-4349 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Medicine: Otorhinolaryngology
Website: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/audiolres

About the journal

Abstract

Keywords