Sensitivity and reliability of fNIRS to detect cochlear implant-induced auditory cortical activation in prelingually deaf children with inner ear malformation or cochlear nerve deficiency

• This is the first fNIRS study for CI children with inner ear malformation or CND. • This population needs stronger-than-normal CI stimuli for auditory responses. • fNIRS detected CI-induced hemodynamic changes in the bilateral auditory area. • fNIRS was sensitive and reliable enough to detect C-level induced auditory responses. • fNIRS needed a longer time but was unaffected by CI artifacts, compared to EABR.