Frequency-to-Place Mismatch and Cochlear Implant Outcomes by Electrode Type.

Importance: Speech recognition outcomes with a cochlear implant (CI) are highly variable. One factor suggested to correlate with CI-aided speech recognition is frequency-to-place mismatch, or the discrepancy between the natural tonotopic organization of the cochlea and the electric frequency allocation of the CI electrodes within the patient's cochlea.

Objective: To evaluate the association between frequency-to-place mismatch and speech recognition outcomes in a large cohort of postlingually deafened adult CI users, while controlling for various clinical factors known to be associated with those outcomes.

Integration of fundamental frequency and voice-onset-time to voicing categorization: Listeners with normal hearing and bimodal hearing configurations.

This study investigates the integration of word-initial fundamental frequency (F0) and voice-onset-time (VOT) in stop voicing categorization for adult listeners with normal hearing (NH) and unilateral cochlear implant (CI) recipients utilizing a bimodal hearing configuration [CI + contralateral hearing aid (HA)]. Categorization was assessed for ten adults with NH and ten adult bimodal listeners, using synthesized consonant stimuli interpolating between /ba/ and /pa/ exemplars with five-step VOT and F0 conditions. All participants demonstrated the expected categorization pattern by reporting /ba/ for shorter VOTs and /pa/ for longer VOTs, with NH listeners showing more use of VOT as a voicing cue than CI listeners in general.

Synchronized Automatic Gain Control in Bilateral Cochlear Implant Recipients Yields Significant Benefit in Static and Dynamic Listening Conditions.

Individuals with bilateral cochlear implants (BiCIs) rely mostly on interaural level difference (ILD) cues to localize stationary sounds in the horizontal plane. Independent automatic gain control (AGC) in each device can distort this cue, resulting in poorer localization of stationary sound sources. However, little is known about how BiCI listeners perceive sound in motion.

Duration of Processor Use Per Day Is Significantly Correlated With Speech Recognition Abilities in Adults With Cochlear Implants.

Objective: Quantify the relationship between average hours of processor use per day and measures of speech recognition in post-lingually deafened adults with cochlear implants.

Setting: Cochlear implant (CI) program at a tertiary medical center.

Patients: Three hundred adult (mean age = 64, 130 women) CI users were included.