Cochlear Implants: The Earlier the Better

Cochlear implants, small electronic devices surgically implanted deep in the inner ear, can provide a sense of sound, although not actual hearing, to someone who is profoundly deaf.

Researchers at the University of Texas in Dallas examined the brain activity of children with normal hearing and deaf children who had received cochlear implants at varying ages. They found that deaf children should receive the implants by the age of 3½. If they receive them any later, the neurological pathway for hearing doesn’t fully develop.