International Journal of Head and Neck Surgery

Register      Login

VOLUME 12 , ISSUE 2 ( April-June, 2021 ) > List of Articles

OTOLOGY CLINICAL CASE

“Oh Granny, What Big Two Ears You've Got!” “All the Better to Hear You with, My Dear!” (Neuronal Circuit Recovery with a Cochlear Implant)

Marcos V Goycoolea, Raquel Levy, Pilar Alarcón, Catherine Catenacci, Byanka Cagnacci, Leandro Rodríguez

Citation Information : Goycoolea MV, Levy R, Alarcón P, Catenacci C, Cagnacci B, Rodríguez L. “Oh Granny, What Big Two Ears You've Got!” “All the Better to Hear You with, My Dear!” (Neuronal Circuit Recovery with a Cochlear Implant). Int J Head Neck Surg 2021; 12 (2):74-78.

DOI: 10.5005/jp-journals-10001-1407

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

Published Online: 01-06-2021

Copyright Statement:  Copyright © 2021; The Author(s).


Abstract

Introduction: Having an auditory pattern of behavior based on two ears is essential for sound localization, quality of hearing, understanding in groups, and with ambient noise. Aims and objectives: Describe and discuss: (1) The consequences of unilateral deafness. (2) The gradual recovery of failing neuronal circuits when stimulated with a cochlear implant. (3) The case of a blind patient with sudden unilateral deafness who required cochlear implantation that is used as a common thread for the subject. Materials and methods: Forty-five-year-old blind woman with sudden unilateral deafness. With unilateral deafness, she could not localize the sound source in terms of side nor if the sound came from above/below, near/far, or from front/back. Her hearing in groups and with ambient noise deteriorated. As a result, she lost her autonomy and required and underwent cochlear implantation. Results: It took her 2 years to recover full sound localization, to be able to discriminate in groups, and to recover binaural fusion. Recovery was gradual. Her abilities to localize sound source in terms of side, of being near or far, or coming from above or below recovered separately, that is to say, at different periods of time. Conclusion: After losing functional neuronal circuits, early stimulation with a cochlear implant helped to fully recover these circuits. Neuronal circuits for sound localization for side, coming from above or below, near or far are seemingly different since they recovered at different times. Hearing with both ears is essential for sound localization, discrimination in groups and with ambient noise.


PDF Share
  1. Welsh CH. The tales of mother goose as first collected by Charles Perrault in 1696. Boston: D.C. Heath & Co., Publishers; 2005. (eBook #17208).
  2. Goycoolea M, Mena I, Neubauer S. General overview and central transmission. Atlas of Otologic Surgery and Magic Otology. In: Goycoolea M, ed., New Delhi, India: Jay Pee Brothers Medical Publishers; 2012. pp. 3–11.
  3. Goycoolea M. The inner ear and understanding the message (central processing). The Music of the Spheres and the Magic of Hearing. In: Goycoolea M, ed., Ciudad de Panamá, Panamá: Jay Pee Highlights Medical Publishers; 2017. pp. 55–118.
  4. O´Shea M. Sensing, perceiving and acting. In: O´Shea M, ed. The Brain. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press; 2005. pp. 64–83.
  5. Goldsmith M. Hearing sound. In: Goldsmith M, ed. Sound. Oxford England: Oxford University Press; 2015. pp. 52–68.
  6. Speck I, Arndt S, Thurow J, et al. 18F-FDG PET imaging of the inferior colliculus in asymmetric hearing loss. J Nucl Med 2020;61(3):418–422. DOI: 10.2967/jnumed.119.231407.
  7. Konishi M. How the owl tracks its prey. Am Sci 1973;61:414–424.
  8. Takahashi T. How the owl tracks its prey – II. J Exp Biol 2010;213(20): 3399–3408. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.031195.
  9. Goycoolea MV, Ribalta GL. Exploratory tympanotomy: an integral part of cochlear implantation. Acta Otolaryngol 2003;123(2):223–226. DOI: 10.1080/0036554021000028110.
  10. Goycoolea M, Mena I, Neubauer S. Functional studies of the human auditory pathway after monaural stimulation with pure tones. Establish Nor Database Acta Oto-Laryngol 2005;125(5):513–519. DOI: 10.1080/00016480510026250.
  11. Goycoolea M, Mena I, Neubauer S. Functional studies (NeuroSPECT) of the human auditory pathway after stimulating binaurally with pure tones. Acta Otolaryngol 2011;131(4):371–376. DOI: 10.3109/00016489.2010.545076.
  12. Sharma A, Glick H, Campbell J, et al. Cortical plasticity and reorganization in pediatric single-sided deafness pre-and post-cochlear implantation: a case study. Otol Neurotol 2016;37(2):26–34. DOI: 10.1097/MAO.0000000000000904.
  13. Ramos Macías A, Borkoski-Barreiro S, Falcón, et al. Single-sided deafness and cochlear implantation in congenital and acquired hearing loss in children. Clin Otolaryngol 2018;00:1–6. DOI: 10.1111/coa.13245.
  14. Kral A, Tillein J, Heid S, et al. Cochlear implants: cortical plasticity in congenital deprivation. Progr Brain Res 2006;157:283–313.
  15. Vijayalakshmi E, Yamazaki H, Deighton M, et al. Simultaneous bilateral cochlear implants: Developmental advances do not yet achieve normal cortical processing. Brain Behav 2017;7:1–15.
  16. Goycoolea M, Levy R, Bustamante M, et al. Chances of reversibility in early sensory deprivation in the homo vulnerabilis: a 5-year (and ongoing) prospective study. Acta-Otolaryngologica 2019;139(4): 357–360. DOI: 10.1080/00016489.2018.1538566.
  17. Saffran J, Aslin R, Newport E. Statistical learning by 8 months old infants. Science 1996;274(5294):1926–1928. DOI: 10.1126/science.274.5294.1926.
PDF Share
PDF Share

© Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers (P) LTD.