title: Reverberation time influences musical enjoyment with cochlear implants.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify factors that enhance the enjoyment of music in cochlear implant (CI) recipients. Specifically, we assessed the hypothesis that variations in reverberation time (RT60) may be linked to variations in the level of musical enjoyment in CI users.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective analysis of music enjoyment in normal-hearing individuals.
  
  
  METHODS
  Single tertiary academic medical center.
  
  
  METHODS
  Normal-hearing adults (N = 20) were asked to rate a novel 20-second melody on three enjoyment modalities: musicality, pleasantness, and naturalness.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjective rating of music excerpts.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants listened to seven different instruments play the melody, each with five levels (0.2, 1.6, 3.0, 5.0, 10.0 s) of RT60, both with and without CI simulation processing. Linear regression analysis with analysis of variance was used to assess the impact of RT60 on music enjoyment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Without CI simulation, music samples with RT60 = 3.0 seconds were ranked most pleasant and most musical, whereas those with RT60 = 1.6 seconds and RT60 = 3.0 seconds were ranked equally most natural (all p < 0.05). With CI simulation, music samples with RT60 = 0.2 seconds were ranked most pleasant, most musical, and most natural (all p < 0.05). Samples without CI simulation show a preference for middle-range RT60, whereas samples with CI simulation show a negative linear relationship between RT60 and musical enjoyment, with preference for minimal reverberation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Minimization of RT60 may be a useful strategy for increasing musical enjoyment under CI conditions, both in altering existing music as well as in composition of new music.
authors.affiliation: *Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons; and †Columbia University Cochlear Implant Center, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, New York, New York, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Michael V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Certo
authors.forename: Gavriel D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Kohlberg
authors.forename: Divya A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Chari
authors.forename: Dean M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Mancuso
authors.forename: Anil K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Lalwani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D019929:Cochlear Implantation; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009146:Music; D057181:Pleasure / Q000502:physiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies