title: An objective auditory measure to assess speech recognition in adult cochlear implant users.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To verify if a mismatch negativity (MMN) paradigm based on speech syllables can differentiate between good and poorer cochlear implant (CI) users on a speech recognition task.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty adults with a CI and 11 normal hearing adults participated in the study. Based on a speech recognition test, ten CI users were classified as good performers and ten as poor performers. We measured the MMN with /da/ as the standard stimulus and /ba/ and /ga/ as the deviants. Separate analyses were conducted on the amplitude and latency of the MMN.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A MMN was evoked by both deviant stimuli in all normal hearing participants and in well performing CI users, with similar amplitudes for both groups. However, the amplitude of the MMN was significantly reduced for the poorer CI users compared to the normal hearing group and the good CI users. The latency was longer for both groups of cochlear implant users. A bivariate correlation showed a significant positive correlation between the speech recognition score and the amplitude of the MMN.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The MMN can distinguish between CI users who have good versus poor speech recognition as assessed with conventional tasks.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings suggest that the MMN can be use to assess speech recognition proficiency in CI users who cannot be tested with regular speech recognition tasks, like infants and other non-verbal populations.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche en Neuropsychologie et Cognition, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Turgeon
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche en Neuropsychologie et Cognition, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lazzouni
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche en Neuropsychologie et Cognition, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lepore
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche en Neuropsychologie et Cognition, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada; Département de Kinésiologie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada. Electronic address: dave.ellemberg@umontreal.ca.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ellemberg
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019929:Cochlear Implantation; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D003638:Deafness / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019986:Persons with Hearing Disabilities; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D013060:Speech; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Auditory evoked potential; Cochlear implant; Mismatch negativity; Speech perception