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AbstractObjectiveDesignStudy SampleResultsConclusionThe primary objective of this study was to explore the feasibility of remotely assessing music perception in paediatric cochlear implant (CI) recipients. Pitch direction discrimination (PDD) and timbre recognition (TR) tests were administered remotely. We aimed to provide insights into the potential benefits and challenges of remote assessments.The study was exploratory in nature. All participants underwent remote assessments for the PDD and TR tests. Eight participants completed both online and face-to-face tests. Supervising parents in remote tests completed the System Usability Scale (SUS).A cohort of 27 children with CI, averaging 11.19 years of age, participated in this study.In the online condition, the average PDD score was 3.29 semitones (st), the TR score was 37.86%, and the average duration for PDD and TR testing was 9.98 and 6.18 minutes, respectively. Face-to-face sessions had an average PDD score of 3.00 st, a TR score of 32.81% and durations of 10.20 and 5.42 minutes for PDD and TR tests, respectively. The SUS score averaged 64.04.These findings contribute to the growing body of knowledge supporting the integration of remote assessments in audiological practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to adapt a method used in sound quality measurements named CI-MUSHRA (the multiple stimuli with hidden reference and anchor for cochlear implant users) to the Turkish language. The effect of low-frequency information and non-native musical stimuli on sound quality perception was investigated. Subjects completed the Turkish version of the MUSHRA test, called TR-MUSHRA, and the original CI-MUSHRA test. Participants also completed the Turkish monosyllabic word recognition test and the spectral temporal modulated ripple test (SMRT). 19 cochlear implant (CI) users and 16 normal-hearing (NH) adults were included. CI users demonstrated a lack of ability to detect the sound quality differences between original stimuli and stimuli with omitted low-frequency information up to 600 Hz in both tests. There was no significant main effect of the test version on sound quality ratings for the two groups. No significant correlation was found between mean sound quality scores, SMRT, and speech recognition in quiet and noise conditions. Our study suggests that CI users perform poorly in discriminating high-pass filtered musical sounds regardless of the language of the musical stimuli. The TR-MUSHRA can be used as a reliable research tool to evaluate the perceived sound quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of signal processing strategy on speech understanding and auditory function for adult cochlear implant (CI) users with a focus on the effects of sequential versus paired stimulation. Design: Within-subjects, repeated measures design was utilised to compare performance between processing strategies and stimulation type on various measures of auditory function and subjective sound quality. Testing with subsequent strategies was completed after a total familiarisation time of two weeks. Study Sample: Ten post-lingually deafened adult CI users were recruited from a clinical population. Participants had a minimum of 13 months CI experience. Ages ranged from 25–78 years. All participants had long-term experience with the optima strategy; eight with sequential stimulation and two with paired stimulation. Results: We found no statistically significant effect of processing strategy. We observed an effect of stimulation type with sequential stimulation yielding significantly higher performance than paired stimulation for speech understanding in quiet and in noise, and subjective estimates of sound quality. No significant differences were noted across strategy or stimulation for music perception, spectral resolution or temporal resolution. Conclusions: Many patients utilise paired stimulation – the default stimulation type in the clinical software; however, sequential stimulation yielded significantly higher outcomes on multiple measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: A study was conducted to determine whether modifications to input compression and input frequency response characteristics can improve music-listening satisfaction in cochlear implant users. Design: Experiment 1 compared three pre-processed versions of music and speech stimuli in a laboratory setting: original, compressed, and flattened frequency response. Music excerpts comprised three music genres (classical, country, and jazz), and a running speech excerpt was compared. Experiment 2 implemented a flattened input frequency response in the speech processor program. In a take-home trial, participants compared unaltered and flattened frequency responses. Study sample: Ten and twelve adult Nucleus Freedom cochlear implant users participated in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively. Results: Experiment 1 revealed a significant preference for music stimuli with a flattened frequency response compared to both original and compressed stimuli, whereas there was a significant preference for the original (rising) frequency response for speech stimuli. Experiment 2 revealed no significant mean preference for the flattened frequency response, with 9 of 11 subjects preferring the rising frequency response. Conclusions: Input compression did not alter music enjoyment. Comparison of the two experiments indicated that individual frequency response preferences may depend on the genre or familiarity, and particularly whether the music contained lyrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The objectives were to evaluate the relationships among music perception, appraisal, and experience in cochlear implant users in multiple clinical settings and to examine the viability of two assessments designed for clinical use. Design: Background questionnaires (IMBQ) were administered by audiologists in 14 clinics in the United States and Canada. The CAMP included tests of pitch-direction discrimination, and melody and timbre recognition. The IMBQ queried users on prior musical involvement, music listening habits pre and post implant, and music appraisals. Study sample: One-hundred forty-five users of Advanced Bionics and Cochlear Ltd cochlear implants. Results: Performance on pitch direction discrimination, melody recognition, and timbre recognition tests were consistent with previous studies with smaller cohorts, as well as with more extensive protocols conducted in other centers. Relationships between perceptual accuracy and music enjoyment were weak, suggesting that perception and appraisal are relatively independent for CI users. Conclusions: Perceptual abilities as measured by the CAMP had little to no relationship with music appraisals and little relationship with musical experience. The CAMP and IMBQ are feasible for routine clinical use, providing results consistent with previous thorough laboratory-based investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Music perception and appraisal are generally poor in cochlear implant recipients. Simple musical structures, lyrics that are easy to follow, and clear rhythm/beat have been reported among the top factors to enhance music enjoyment. The present study investigated the preference for modified relative instrument levels in music with normal-hearing and cochlear implant subjects. Design: In experiment 1, test subjects were given a mixing console and multi-track recordings to determine their most enjoyable audio mix. In experiment 2, a preference rating experiment based on the preferred relative level settings in experiment 1 was performed. Study sample: Experiment 1 was performed with four postlingually deafened cochlear implant subjects, experiment 2 with ten normal-hearing and ten cochlear implant subjects. Results: A significant difference in preference rating was found between normal-hearing and cochlear implant subjects. The latter preferred an audio mix with larger vocals-to-instruments ratio. In addition, given an audio mix with clear vocals and attenuated instruments, cochlear implant subjects preferred the bass/drum track to be louder than the other instrument tracks. Conclusions: The original audio mix in real-world music might not be suitable for cochlear implant recipients. Modifying the relative instrument level settings potentially improves music enjoyment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the perception of music is generally poor in cochlear implant users, there are a few excellent performers. Objective: The aim of this study was the assessment of different aspects of music perception in one exceptional cochlear implant user. Design: The assessments included pitch direction discrimination, melody and timbre recognition, relative and absolute pitch judgment, and consonance rating of musical notes presented through the sound processor(s). Study sample: An adult cochlear implant user with musical background who lost her hearing postlingually, and five normally-hearing listeners with musical training participated in the study. Results: The CI user discriminated pitch direction for sounds differing by one semitone and recognized melody with nearly 100% accuracy. Her results in timbre recognition were better than average published data for cochlear implant users. Her consonance rating, and relative and absolute pitch perception were comparable to normally-hearing listeners with musical training. Conclusion: The results in this study showed that excellent performance is possible on musical perception tasks including pitch perception using present day cochlear implant technologies. Factors that may explain this user's exceptional performance are short duration of deafness, pre- and post-deafness musical training, and perfect pitch abilities before the onset of deafness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Objective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate MED-EL's Fine Structure Processing (FSP) strategy in comparison with their variations of the standard Continuous Interleaved Sampling (CIS) strategy denoted CIS++ and High Definition CIS (HDCIS). Study Sample: Twenty experienced adult CI users participated in the study in connection with upgrading to a new speech processor and at a two-year follow-up. Design: Blinded paired-comparisons between FSP and HDCIS were performed for speech intelligibility and music sound quality. Standard speech recognition tests in quiet and in noise were also accomplished to monitor the participants'' actual performance and to evaluate long-term outcomes. Results: Overall, the paired-comparison results showed no significant differences between the strategies, however, the total numbers of significant individual preferences were: 11 FSP vs. 12 HDCIS for speech, and 4 FSP vs. 15 HDCIS for music. The average speech recognition score decreased significantly after one month with FSP, but after two years there were no significant difference compared to the initial results with CIS++. Conclusions: Owing to the large individual differences in subjective preference, and the fact that the FSP strategy was not superior to the CIS variations, the recipients should be given the opportunity of choosing between the strategies Sumario Objetivo: El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar la estrategia de procesamiento de la estructura fina (FSP) de MED-EL en comparacióón con las variaciones de la estrategia estáándar de muestreo intercalado continuo (CIS) denominado CIS++ y el CIS de alta definicióón (HDCIS). Muestra: Veinte adultos usuarios experimentados de CI participaron en este estudio en conexióón con el ascenso a un nuevo procesador y el seguimiento durante dos añños. Diseñño: Se efectuóó una comparacióón ciega pareada entre FSP y HDCIS para la inteligibilidad del lenguaje y la calidad del sonido musical. Se efectuaron tambiéén pruebas estáándar de reconocimiento del lenguaje en silencio y en ruido para monitorear el desempeñño de los participantes y para evaluar los resultados a largo plazo. Resultados: En general el resultado de la comparacióón pareada no mostróó diferencias significativas entre las estrategias, sin embargo, los núúmeros totales de preferencias por sujeto fueron: 11 FSP vs 12 HDCIS para lenguaje y 4 FSP vs 15 HDCIS para la múúsica. La puntuacióón promedio del reconocimiento del lenguaje disminuyóó significativamente despuéés de un mes con FSP, pero despuéés de dos añños no hubo diferencias significativas al comparar con los resultados iniciales del CIS++. Conclusiones: Debido a las amplias diferencias individuales en las preferencias de los sujetos y al hecho de que la estrategia FSP no fue superior a las variaciones de CIS, los receptores del CI deben tener la oportunidad de escoger entre las estrategias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Objective: The purpose of the present study was to test the hypothesis that cochlear implant (CI) users'' music perception is correlated with their lexical tone perception, and the two types of perception share similar mechanisms in electric hearing. Design: A lexical tone perception test and a pitch interval discrimination test were administered to a group of CI users and a group of normal-hearing (NH) listeners. Sample study: Nineteen adult CI users and 10 NH listeners who are native-Mandarin-Chinese speakers participated in the study. Result: Tone-perception performance of the CI group was, on average, 58.3% correct (±± 19.78% correct), and performance of the NH group was near perfect. The CI group had a mean threshold of 5.66 semitones (±± 5.57 semitones) in pitch discrimination as compared to the threshold of 0.44 semitone from the NH group. There was a strong correlation between the CI users'' tone-perception performance and their pitch discrimination threshold ( r == −−0.75, p < 0.001). Conclution: Musical and lexical pitch perceptions are strongly correlated with each other and they might share similar mechanisms in electric hearing. Sumario Objetivo: el objetivo de este estudio fue probar la hipóótesis de que la percepcióón de la múúsica en los usuarios de los implantes cocleares (CI) estáá correlacionada con la percepcióón del tono lééxico y los dos tipos de percepcióón comparten mecanismos similares en la audicióón electróónica. Diseñño: Una prueba de percepcióón del tono lééxico y una prueba de la discriminacióón del intervalo de tono se administraron a un grupo de usuarios de implante coclear y a un grupo de sujetos normoyentes (NH). Muestra: Diecinueve adultos usuarios de CI y 10 sujetos normoyentes hablantes nativos del chino mandaríín participaron en el estudio. Resultados: El desempeñño en la percepcióón tonal en el grupo de CI fue en promedio 58.3% correcta (±±19.78%) y el desempeñño del grupo NH fue casi perfecto. El grupo CI tuvo un umbral promedio de 5.66 semitonos (±±5.57 semitonos) en discriminacióón del tono comparado con el umbral de 0.44 semitonos del grupo NH. Hubo una fuerte correlacióón entre el desempeñño de la percepcióón del tono en los usuarios de CI y su umbral de discriminacióón de tono (r == −−0.75, p < 0.001). Conclusióón: El tono musical y el lééxico estáán estrechamente correlacionados entre síí y puede ser que compartan mecanismos similares en la audicióón elééctrica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]