Pitch Matching Adapts Even for Bilateral Cochlear Implant Users with Relatively Small Initial Pitch Differences Across the Ears.

There is often a mismatch for bilateral cochlear implant (CI) users between the electrodes in the two ears that receive the same frequency allocation and the electrodes that, when stimulated, yield the same pitch. Studies with CI users who have extreme mismatches between the two ears show that adaptation occurs in terms of pitch matching, reducing the difference between which electrodes receive the same frequency allocation and which ones produce the same pitch. The considerable adaptation that occurs for these extreme cases suggests that adaptation should be sufficient to overcome the relatively minor mismatches seen with typical bilateral CI users.

Cochlear Implant Users' Vocal Control CorrelatesAcross Tasks.

Cochlear implants (CIs) provide access to auditory information that can affect vocal control. For example, previous research shows that, when producing a sustained vowel, CI users will alter the pitch of their voice when the feedback of their own voice is perceived to shift. Although these results can be informative as to how perception and production are linked for CI users, the artificial nature of the task raises questions as to the applicability of the results to real-world vocal productions.

When singing with cochlear implants, are two ears worse than one for perilingually/postlingually deaf individuals?

Many individuals with bilateral cochlear implants hear different pitches when listening with their left versus their right cochlear implant. This conflicting information could potentially increase the difficulty of singing with cochlear implants. To determine if bilateral cochlear implants are detrimental for singing abilities, ten perilingually/postlingually deaf bilateral adult cochlear implant users were asked to sing "Happy Birthday" when using their left, right, both, or neither cochlear implant.