title: Contributions of electric and acoustic hearing to bimodal speech and music perception.
abstract: Cochlear implant (CI) users have difficulty understanding speech in noisy listening conditions and perceiving music. Aided residual acoustic hearing in the contralateral ear can mitigate these limitations. The present study examined contributions of electric and acoustic hearing to speech understanding in noise and melodic pitch perception. Data was collected with the CI only, the hearing aid (HA) only, and both devices together (CI+HA). Speech reception thresholds (SRTs) were adaptively measured for simple sentences in speech babble. Melodic contour identification (MCI) was measured with and without a masker instrument; the fundamental frequency of the masker was varied to be overlapping or non-overlapping with the target contour. Results showed that the CI contributes primarily to bimodal speech perception and that the HA contributes primarily to bimodal melodic pitch perception. In general, CI+HA performance was slightly improved relative to the better ear alone (CI-only) for SRTs but not for MCI, with some subjects experiencing a decrease in bimodal MCI performance relative to the better ear alone (HA-only). Individual performance was highly variable, and the contribution of either device to bimodal perception was both subject- and task-dependent. The results suggest that individualized mapping of CIs and HAs may further improve bimodal speech and music perception.
authors: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, United States of America.
authors: Joseph D
authors: JD
authors: Crew
authors: Department of Head and Neck Surgery, University of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America.
authors: John J
authors: JJ
authors: Galvin
authors: Department of Otolaryngology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, United States of America.
authors: David M
authors: DM
authors: Landsberger
authors: Department of Head and Neck Surgery, University of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America.
authors: Qian-Jie
authors: QJ
authors: Fu
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001309:Auditory Threshold / Q000502:physiology*; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D003638:Deafness / Q000534:rehabilitation* / Q000628:therapy; D006310:Hearing Aids; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009146:Music; D010898:Pitch Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*