title: Executive functioning skills in preschool-age children with cochlear implants.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to determine whether deficits in executive functioning (EF) in children with cochlear implants (CIs) emerge as early as the preschool years.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two groups of children ages 3 to 6 years participated in this cross-sectional study: 24 preschoolers who had CIs prior to 36 months of age and 21 preschoolers with normal hearing (NH). All were tested on normed measures of working memory, inhibition-concentration, and organization-integration. Parents completed a normed rating scale of problem behaviors related to EF. Comparisons of EF skills of children with CIs were made to peers with NH and to published nationally representative norms.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Preschoolers with CIs showed significantly poorer performance on inhibition-concentration and working memory compared with peers with NH and with national norms. No group differences were found in visual memory or organization-integration. When data were controlled for language, differences in performance measures of EF remained, whereas differences in parent-reported problems with EF were no longer significant. Hearing history was generally unrelated to EF.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first study to demonstrate that EF deficits found in older children with CIs begin to emerge as early as preschool years. The ability to detect these deficits early has important implications for early intervention and habilitation after cochlear implantation.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Beer
authors.forename: William G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Kronenberger
authors.forename: Irina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Castellanos
authors.forename: Bethany G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Colson
authors.forename: Shirley C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Henning
authors.forename: David B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Pisoni
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019929:Cochlear Implantation; D003054:Cochlear Implants / Q000009:adverse effects*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003638:Deafness / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery; D056344:Executive Function; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term