ABSTRACT: Neurocognitive processes such as executive functioning (EF) may influence the development of speech-language skills in deaf children after cochlear implantation in ways that differ from normal-hearing, typically developing children. Conversely, spoken language abilities and experiences may also exert reciprocal effects on the development of EF. The purpose of this study was to identify EF domains that are related to speech-language skills in cochlear implant (CI) users, compared to normal-hearing peers. Sixty-four prelingually deaf, early-implanted, long-term users of CIs and 74 normal-hearing peers equivalent in age and nonverbal intelligence completed measures of speech-language skills and three domains of EF: working memory, fluency-speed, and inhibition-concentration. Verbal working memory and fluency-speed were more strongly associated with speech-language outcomes in the CI users than in the normal-hearing peers. Spatial working memory and inhibition-concentration correlated positively with language skills in normal-hearing peers but not in CI users. The core domains of EF that are associated with spoken language development are different in long-term CI users compared to normal-hearing peers, suggesting important dissociations in neurocognitive development.

ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether families of children with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) are organized similarly to those of typically developing, typically hearing (TH) children and whether the dimensions of family dynamics and environment are related to spoken language development similarly in children with and without SNHL.

ABSTRACT: The aims of this project, in response to PAR-18-519: Sensory and motor changes as predictors of preclinical Alzheimer's disease, are to: [1] Test the hypothesis that changes in visual, olfactory, and auditory measures in preclinical and prodromal stages of AD is driven by cerebral amyloid and tau deposition and/or neurodegeneration; [2] Test the hypothesis that altered brain connectivity within sensory networks is associated with measures of multi-sensory function in preclinical and prodromal AD; [3] Determine whether a combination of sensory biomarkers provides a better prediction of cerebral amyloid and tau deposition, neurodegeneration, and changes in connectivity than a single measure alone in preclinical and prodromal AD; [4] Evaluate the ability of cross-sectional and longitudinal sensory measures to predict future decline in cognition, clinical conversion, and brain atrophy rate. Successful completion of these aims has the potential to alter the current concepts and methodologies of early diagnosis, which in turn will support the development of sensory measures as accessible and cost-effective diagnostic markers for use in screening, diagnosis, clinical trials of AD therapies, and ultimately, treatment.