In the last ten years an increased amount of psychological research has addressed the issue why some children benefit enormously from cochlear implantation, while others use their implant with limited success. 30 Czech children who have been using the Nucleus cochlear implant for more than 2 years were thoroughly assessed in our CI Centre. Their achievements and auditory skills were statistically correlated to the results of preoperative psychological examinations and other predictive factors. Cognitive skills of the implanted children were found to be one of the most important factors influencing the degree of benefit from cochlear implantation. Absence of symptoms of minimal brain dysfunction seems to be of equal importance.

        Key words: cochlear implantation in children, benefit from cochlear implant, psychological aspects, cognitive skills, minimal brain dysfunction.