13 WTHR - Indianapolis News |IU studying infant communication

IU studying infant communication

Anne Marie Tiernon/Health Reporter

Indianapolis, Jan. 21 - At ten-months-old, Evelyn is already an infant scientist. She is helping Indiana University researchers set a baseline for hearing and speech development.

Researchers measure how she matches a visual with an auditory signal.

How Evelyn responds will help doctors determine how cochlear implants are working in the very young.

Traditionally older children get the device to help them hear. But with auditory learning starting in the womb, Dr. Derek Houston says the earlier the better. "It's only fairly recently that infants as young a six months of age can receive a cochlear implant."

Data from babies like Evelyn helps doctors measure if it's working.

For now researchers say that six months after the implant, the babies are not matching up with what they are hearing. That means they still need more intense work with therapists.

Dr. Tonya Bergeson adds, "We're going groundbreaking research and we constantly need normal hearing infants to provide that baseline for us."

For her work, Evelyn gets a IU degree and satisfaction that already she is making a difference.