Role of speechreading in audiovisual interactions during the recovery of speech comprehension in deaf adults with cochlear implants

Scand J Psychol. 2009 Oct;50(5):437-44. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9450.2009.00741.x.

Abstract

Speechreading is an important form of communicative activity that improves social adaptation in deaf adults. Cochlear implantation allows interaction between the visual speechreading abilities developed during deafness and the auditory sensory experiences acquired through use of the cochlear implant. Crude auditory information provided by the implant is analyzed in parallel with conjectural information from speechreading, thus creating new profiles of audiovisual integration with implications for brain plasticity. Understanding the peculiarities of change in speechreading after cochlear implantation may improve our understanding of brain plasticity and provide useful information for functional rehabilitation of implanted patients. In this article, we present a generalized review of our recent studies and indicate perspectives for further research in this domain.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Cochlear Implantation
  • Cochlear Implants*
  • Deafness / physiopathology*
  • Deafness / surgery
  • Lipreading*
  • Recovery of Function / physiology*
  • Speech Intelligibility / physiology
  • Speech Perception / physiology
  • Verbal Behavior / physiology
  • Visual Perception / physiology