Saksida Amanda, Fantoni Marta, Ghiselli Sara, Orzan Eva
Institute for Maternal and Child Health-IRCCS "Burlo Garofolo"-Trieste, via dell'Istria 65/1, 34137 Trieste, Italy.
Educational Research Institute, Gerbičeva 62, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Audiol Res. 2025 Aug 14;15(4):108. doi: 10.3390/audiolres15040108.
Ear advantage (EA) reflects hemispheric asymmetries in auditory processing. While a right-ear advantage (REA) for speech and a left-ear advantage (LEA) for music are well documented in typically developing individuals, it is unclear how these patterns manifest in young children with cochlear implants (CIs). This study investigated whether pupillometry could reveal asymmetric listening efforts in toddlers with bilateral CIs when listening to speech and music under monaural stimulation. Thirteen toddlers (mean age = 36.2 months) with early bilateral CIs participated. Pupillary responses were recorded during passive listening to speech and music stimuli, presented in quiet or with background noise. Each child was tested twice, once with only the left CI active and once with only the right CI active. Linear mixed-effects models assessed the influence of session (left/right CI), signal type (speech/music), and background noise. A significant interaction between session and signal type was observed ( = 0.047). Speech elicited larger pupil sizes when processed through the left CI, while music showed no significant lateralized effects. Age and speech therapy frequency moderated pupil responses in speech and music trials, respectively. Pupillometry reveals subtle asymmetric listening effort in young CI users depending on the listening ear, suggesting early emerging functional lateralization despite sensory deprivation and device-mediated hearing.
耳优势（EA）反映了听觉处理中的半球不对称性。虽然在正常发育的个体中，言语的右耳优势（REA）和音乐的左耳优势（LEA）已有充分记录，但尚不清楚这些模式在使用人工耳蜗（CI）的幼儿中如何表现。本研究调查了在单耳刺激下，听力学能否揭示双侧CI幼儿在听言语和音乐时不对称的听觉努力。13名早期双侧CI的幼儿（平均年龄=36.2个月）参与了研究。在安静或有背景噪音的情况下，被动听言语和音乐刺激时记录瞳孔反应。每个孩子测试两次，一次仅左侧CI激活，一次仅右侧CI激活。线性混合效应模型评估了测试阶段（左/右CI）、信号类型（言语/音乐）和背景噪音的影响。观察到测试阶段和信号类型之间存在显著交互作用（ = 0.047）。通过左侧CI处理言语时，瞳孔尺寸更大，而音乐未显示出明显的偏侧化效应。年龄和言语治疗频率分别调节了言语和音乐试验中的瞳孔反应。听力学揭示了CI年轻使用者根据聆听耳不同而产生的细微不对称听觉努力，表明尽管存在感觉剥夺和设备介导的听力，但仍早期出现功能偏侧化。
