Evaluation of a Test Battery to Assess Perception of Music in Children With Cochlear Implants.
OBJECTIVE
A number of studies have investigated music perception in adult cochlear implant (CI) users. However, little is known about how pediatric CI users perceive and process music, in part because suitable methods for assessing music perception in this population are lacking. Therefore, we developed the Music in Children With Cochlear Implants (MCCI) battery to assess music perception in pediatric CI users younger than 9 years.


OBJECTIVE
To pilot test the MCCI on a group of pediatric CI users to determine its feasibility for measuring music perception and to compare performance of CI users with that of normal-hearing (NH) control participants.


METHODS
The pilot test was conducted in an academic tertiary care center. The MCCI evaluated rhythm, pitch, melody, harmony, and timbre perception. For each section, 10 pediatric CI users and 10 NH controls were presented with a pair of stimuli that possibly varied along a single musical element (eg, rhythm). Participants were required to indicate whether the stimuli in the pair were the same or different.


METHODS
Administration of the MCCI.


METHODS
Percentage correct on each section of the MCCI and the aggregate score of all sections by group.


RESULTS
The MCCI provided a basic characterization of musical perceptual abilities. In the aggregate, NH controls significantly outperformed CI users in music perception (mean [SD] accuracy for CI users vs NH controls: rhythm, 73% [20%] vs 78% [20%]; pitch, 84% [12%] vs 91% [13%]; melody, 65% [16%] vs 75% [18%]; harmony, 74% [13%] vs 75% [14%]; and timbre, 80% [17%] vs 90% [12%]; repeated-measures analysis of variance, F1,17 = 9.3; P < .01). Despite obtaining lower accuracies than NH controls, however, the CI users achieved above-chance accuracy in all sections of the MCCI (1-sample t test, P < .01), including pitch-based sections that are traditionally difficult for CI users. These results suggest that CI users can make use of temporal and spectral cues to discriminate between musical stimuli, although not to the extent of their NH peers.


CONCLUSIONS
The MCCI provided an efficient and user-friendly assessment of music perception in pediatric CI users. This test battery may serve as a valuable tool to evaluate music perceptual abilities of pediatric CI users and measure the effects of interventions.
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
Alexis T
AT
Roy
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland2Peabody Conservatory of Music, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.
Lindsay
L
Scattergood-Keepper
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
Courtney
C
Carver
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
Patpong
P
Jiradejvong
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
Caty
C
Butler
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland2Peabody Conservatory of Music, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.
Charles J
CJ
Limb
D001307:Auditory Perception; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D003463:Cues; D003638:Deafness / Q000534:rehabilitation; D005260:Female; D006309:Hearing; D006320:Hearing Tests / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009146:Music; D010898:Pitch Perception; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity