Residual neural processing of musical sound features in adult cochlear implant users.
Auditory processing in general and music perception in particular are hampered in adult cochlear implant (CI) users. To examine the residual music perception skills and their underlying neural correlates in CI users implanted in adolescence or adulthood, we conducted an electrophysiological and behavioral study comparing adult CI users with normal-hearing age-matched controls (NH controls). We used a newly developed musical multi-feature paradigm, which makes it possible to test automatic auditory discrimination of six different types of sound feature changes inserted within a musical enriched setting lasting only 20 min. The presentation of stimuli did not require the participants' attention, allowing the study of the early automatic stage of feature processing in the auditory cortex. For the CI users, we obtained mismatch negativity (MMN) brain responses to five feature changes but not to changes of rhythm, whereas we obtained MMNs for all the feature changes in the NH controls. Furthermore, the MMNs to deviants of pitch of CI users were reduced in amplitude and later than those of NH controls for changes of pitch and guitar timber. No other group differences in MMN parameters were found to changes in intensity and saxophone timber. Furthermore, the MMNs in CI users reflected the behavioral scores from a respective discrimination task and were correlated with patients' age and speech intelligibility. Our results suggest that even though CI users are not performing at the same level as NH controls in neural discrimination of pitch-based features, they do possess potential neural abilities for music processing. However, CI users showed a disrupted ability to automatically discriminate rhythmic changes compared with controls. The current behavioral and MMN findings highlight the residual neural skills for music processing even in CI users who have been implanted in adolescence or adulthood.


CONCLUSIONS
-Automatic brain responses to musical feature changes reflect the limitations of central auditory processing in adult Cochlear Implant users.-The brains of adult CI users automatically process sound features changes even when inserted in a musical context.-CI users show disrupted automatic discriminatory abilities for rhythm in the brain.-Our fast paradigm demonstrate residual musical abilities in the brains of adult CI users giving hope for their future rehabilitation.
Department of Neurology, Hannover Medical School , Hannover , Germany.
Lydia
L
Timm
Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University , Aarhus , Denmark ; Royal Academy of Music , Aarhus , Denmark.
Peter
P
Vuust
Brain and Mind Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Biomedical Science, Aalto University School of Science , Aalto , Finland ; Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Helsinki , Helsinki , Finland.
Elvira
E
Brattico
Department of Neurology, Hannover Medical School , Hannover , Germany.
Deepashri
D
Agrawal
Neuropsychology Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg , Oldenburg , Germany ; Cluster of Excellence Hearing4All , Oldenburg/Hannover , Germany.
Stefan
S
Debener
Cluster of Excellence Hearing4All , Oldenburg/Hannover , Germany ; Department of Otolaryngology, Hannover Medical School , Hannover , Germany .
Andreas
A
Büchner
Department of Neurology, Hannover Medical School , Hannover , Germany ; Cluster of Excellence Hearing4All , Oldenburg/Hannover , Germany.
Reinhard
R
Dengler
Department of Clinical Psychology and Sexual Medicine, Hannover Medical School , Hannover , Germany.
Matthias
M
Wittfoth
auditory evoked potentials; cochlear implant; mismatch negativity; music multi-feature paradigm; music perception