Intra-Cochlear Current Spread Correlates with Speech Perception in Experienced Adult Cochlear Implant Users

Broader intra-cochlear current spread (ICCS) implies higher cochlear implant (CI) channel interactions. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between ICCS and speech intelligibility in experienced CI users. Using voltage matrices collected for impedance measurements, an individual exponential spread coefficient (ESC) was computed. Speech audiometry was performed to determine the intelligibility at 40 dB Sound Pressure Level (SPL) and the 50% speech reception threshold: I40 and SRT50 respectively. Correlations between ESC and either I40 or SRT50 were assessed. A total of 36 adults (mean age: 50 years) with more than 11 months (mean: 34 months) of CI experience were included. In the 21 subjects for whom all electrodes were active, ESC was moderately correlated with both I40 (r = −0.557, p = 0.009) and SRT50 (r = 0.569, p = 0.007). The results indicate that speech perception performance is negatively affected by the ICCS. Estimates of current spread at the closest vicinity of CI electrodes and prior to any activation of auditory neurons are indispensable to better characterize the relationship between CI stimulation and auditory perception in cochlear implantees.

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The relationship between speech intelligibility and speech perception in cochlear implant patients

10.1055/s-0038-1640312 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

N Freimann ◽

D Polterauer ◽

S Gollwitzer ◽

J Müller ◽

ME Schuster

Keyword(s):

Speech Perception ◽

Cochlear Implant ◽

Speech Intelligibility ◽

The Relationship

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Preimplant Hearing Aid Fittings and Aided Audibility for Pediatric Cochlear Implant Recipients

Journal of the American Academy of Audiology ◽

10.3766/jaaa.17126 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 30 (08) ◽

pp. 703-711 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Alissa Nickerson ◽

Lisa S. Davidson ◽

Rosalie M. Uchanski

Keyword(s):

Speech Recognition ◽

Speech Perception ◽

Cochlear Implant ◽

Hearing Aids ◽

Speech Intelligibility ◽

Recognition Performance ◽

Demographic Data ◽

The United States ◽

Mean Deviation ◽

The Relationship

AbstractAudibility of speech for children with hearing loss (HL) depends on the degree of HL and the fitting of the hearing aids (HAs) themselves. Many studies on cochlear implant (CI) users have demonstrated that preimplant hearing is associated with postimplant outcomes, but there have been very few reports on the fitting of HAs before surgery.The aims of this study were to characterize HA fittings and aided audibility of speech for pediatric HA users with severe to profound HL and to examine the relation between preimplant aided audibility and postimplant speech perception.A descriptive/observational and correlational study. Audiologic records of pediatric CI participants involved in a larger study examining the effects of early acoustic hearing were analyzed retrospectively; when available, these records included HA verification and speech recognition performance.The CI participants were enrolled in audiology centers and oral schools for the deaf across the United States.To determine whether deviations from prescribed DSL target were significantly greater than zero, 95% confidence intervals of the mean deviation were calculated for each frequency (250, 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz). Correlational analyses were used to examine the relationship between preimplant aided Speech Intelligibility Indices (SIIs) and postimplant speech perception in noise. Correlational analyses were also used to explore the relationship between preimplant aided SIIs and demographic data. T-tests were used to compare preimplant-aided SIIs of HAs of listeners who later became users of either sequential CIs, simultaneous CIs, or bimodal devices.Preimplant fittings of HAs were generally very close to prescriptive targets, except at 4000 Hz for those HAs with active frequency-lowering processing, and preimplant SIIs, albeit low, were correlated with postimplant speech recognition performance in noise. These results suggest that aided audibility should be maximized throughout the HA trial for later speech recognition purposes.It is recommended that HA fittings be optimized to support speech audibility even when considering implantation. In addition to the age at which HA use begins, the aided audibility itself is important in determining CI candidacy and decisions regarding bimodal HA use.

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Logatome Discrimination in Cochlear Implant Users: Subjective Tests Compared to the Mismatch Negativity

The Scientific World JOURNAL ◽

10.1100/tsw.2010.28 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 10 ◽

pp. 329-339 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Torsten Rahne ◽

Michael Ziese ◽

Dorothea Rostalski ◽

Roland Mühler

Keyword(s):

Speech Perception ◽

Cochlear Implant ◽

Mismatch Negativity ◽

Speech Intelligibility ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Normal Hearing ◽

Discrimination Test ◽

Speech Database ◽

Automated Speech Recognition ◽

Related Potentials

This paper describes a logatome discrimination test for the assessment of speech perception in cochlear implant users (CI users), based on a multilingual speech database, the Oldenburg Logatome Corpus, which was originally recorded for the comparison of human and automated speech recognition. The logatome discrimination task is based on the presentation of 100 logatome pairs (i.e., nonsense syllables) with balanced representations of alternating “vowel-replacement” and “consonant-replacement” paradigms in order to assess phoneme confusions. Thirteen adult normal hearing listeners and eight adult CI users, including both good and poor performers, were included in the study and completed the test after their speech intelligibility abilities were evaluated with an established sentence test in noise. Furthermore, the discrimination abilities were measured electrophysiologically by recording the mismatch negativity (MMN) as a component of auditory event-related potentials. The results show a clear MMN response only for normal hearing listeners and CI users with good performance, correlating with their logatome discrimination abilities. Higher discrimination scores for vowel-replacement paradigms than for the consonant-replacement paradigms were found. We conclude that the logatome discrimination test is well suited to monitor the speech perception skills of CI users. Due to the large number of available spoken logatome items, the Oldenburg Logatome Corpus appears to provide a useful and powerful basis for further development of speech perception tests for CI users.

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Meta-Analysis—Correlation between Spiral Ganglion Cell Counts and Speech Perception with a Cochlear Implant

Audiology Research ◽

10.3390/audiolres11020020 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 220-226

Author(s):

Yew-Song Cheng ◽

Mario A. Svirsky

Keyword(s):

Speech Perception ◽

Cochlear Implant ◽

Ganglion Cells ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Spiral Ganglion ◽

Spiral Ganglion Cell ◽

Cell Counts ◽

Temporal Bones ◽

The Relationship ◽

Existing Data

The presence of spiral ganglion cells (SGCs) is widely accepted to be a prerequisite for successful speech perception with a cochlear implant (CI), because SGCs provide the only known conduit between the implant electrode and the central auditory system. By extension, it has been hypothesized that the number of SGCs might be an important factor in CI outcomes. An impressive body of work has been published on findings from the laborious process of collecting temporal bones from CI users and counting the number of SGCs to correlate those numbers with speech perception scores, but the findings thus far have been conflicting. We performed a meta-analysis of all published studies with the hope that combining existing data may help us reach a more definitive conclusion about the relationship between SGC count and speech perception scores in adults.

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Cochlear Implant in Patients with Asymmetric Hearing Loss: Reporting and Discussing the Benefits in Speech Perception, Speech Reception Threshold, Squelch Abilities and the Patients Reported Outcomes

The Journal of Laryngology & Otology ◽

10.1017/s0022215121004333 ◽

2022 ◽

pp. 1-21

Author(s):

Francesca Forli ◽

Stefano Berrettini ◽

Luca Bruschini ◽

Rachele Canelli ◽

Francesco Lazzerini

Keyword(s):

Hearing Loss ◽

Speech Perception ◽

Cochlear Implant ◽

Speech Reception ◽

Asymmetric Hearing Loss ◽

Patients Reported Outcomes

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Assessment and Outcome in Non-Traditional Cochlear Implant Candidates

Audiology and Neurotology ◽

10.1159/000454914 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 21 (6) ◽

pp. 383-390 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Rebecca L. Heywood ◽

Deborah A. Vickers ◽

Francesca Pinto ◽

George Fereos ◽

Azhar Shaida

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

Speech Perception ◽

Cochlear Implant ◽

Predictive Factors ◽

Speech Intelligibility ◽

Age At Onset ◽

Patient Expectations ◽

Speech Discrimination ◽

Profound Deafness ◽

The Mean

The objectives of this study were to assess: (i) patient expectations met as a measure of outcome in early-deafened, late-implanted (non-traditional) cochlear implant recipients and (ii) pre-implantation predictive factors for postoperative speech perception. The notes of 13 recipients were retrospectively reviewed. The mean age at onset of profound deafness was 1.5 years (range 0-6). The mean age at implantation was 37 years (range 22-51 years). Patient expectations were assessed pre-operatively and 1 year after implantation. They were met or exceeded in 129/140 (92%) domains overall. A higher Speech Intelligibility Rating and audiovisual City University of New York sentence score before implantation were found to be positive predictive factors for improved speech discrimination after cochlear implantation.

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Discrimination of Stochastic Frequency Modulation by Cochlear Implant Users

Journal of the American Academy of Audiology ◽

10.3766/jaaa.14067 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 26 (06) ◽

pp. 572-581 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Stanley Sheft ◽

Min-Yu Cheng ◽

Valeriy Shafiro

Keyword(s):

Speech Perception ◽

Cochlear Implant ◽

Stimulus Duration ◽

Frequency Modulation ◽

Speech Intelligibility ◽

Signal To Noise Ratio ◽

Normal Hearing ◽

Signal To Noise ◽

Common Basis ◽

Low Rate

Background: Past work has shown that low-rate frequency modulation (FM) may help preserve signal coherence, aid segmentation at word and syllable boundaries, and benefit speech intelligibility in the presence of a masker. Purpose: This study evaluated whether difficulties in speech perception by cochlear implant (CI) users relate to a deficit in the ability to discriminate among stochastic low-rate patterns of FM. Research Design: This is a correlational study assessing the association between the ability to discriminate stochastic patterns of low-rate FM and the intelligibility of speech in noise. Study Sample: Thirteen postlingually deafened adult CI users participated in this study. Data Collection and Analysis: Using modulators derived from 5-Hz lowpass noise applied to a 1-kHz carrier, thresholds were measured in terms of frequency excursion both in quiet and with a speech-babble masker present, stimulus duration, and signal-to-noise ratio in the presence of a speech-babble masker. Speech perception ability was assessed in the presence of the same speech-babble masker. Relationships were evaluated with Pearson product–moment correlation analysis with correction for family-wise error, and commonality analysis to determine the unique and common contributions across psychoacoustic variables to the association with speech ability. Results: Significant correlations were obtained between masked speech intelligibility and three metrics of FM discrimination involving either signal-to-noise ratio or stimulus duration, with shared variance among the three measures accounting for much of the effect. Compared to past results from young normal-hearing adults and older adults with either normal hearing or a mild-to-moderate hearing loss, mean FM discrimination thresholds obtained from CI users were higher in all conditions. Conclusions: The ability to process the pattern of frequency excursions of stochastic FM may, in part, have a common basis with speech perception in noise. Discrimination of differences in the temporally distributed place coding of the stimulus could serve as this common basis for CI users.

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Individual Hearing Outcomes in Cochlear Implant Users Influence Social Engagement and Listening Behavior in Everyday Life

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/2021_jslhr-21-00249 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-18

Author(s):

Erin R. O'Neill ◽

John D. Basile ◽

Peggy Nelson

Keyword(s):

Speech Perception ◽

Cochlear Implant ◽

Everyday Life ◽

Social Engagement ◽

Speech Intelligibility ◽

Daily Life ◽

Coping Behavior ◽

Listening Behavior ◽

Listening Strategies ◽

Hearing Outcomes

Purpose The goal of this study was to assess the listening behavior and social engagement of cochlear implant (CI) users and normal-hearing (NH) adults in daily life and relate these actions to objective hearing outcomes. Method Ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) collected using a smartphone app were used to probe patterns of listening behavior in CI users and age-matched NH adults to detect differences in social engagement and listening behavior in daily life. Participants completed very short surveys every 2 hr to provide snapshots of typical, everyday listening and socializing, as well as longer, reflective surveys at the end of the day to assess listening strategies and coping behavior. Speech perception testing, with accompanying ratings of task difficulty, was also performed in a lab setting to uncover possible correlations between objective and subjective listening behavior. Results Comparisons between speech intelligibility testing and EMA responses showed poorer performing CI users spending more time at home and less time conversing with others than higher performing CI users and their NH peers. Perception of listening difficulty was also very different for CI users and NH listeners, with CI users reporting little difficulty despite poor speech perception performance. However, both CI users and NH listeners spent most of their time in listening environments they considered “not difficult.” CI users also reported using several compensatory listening strategies, such as visual cues, whereas NH listeners did not. Conclusion Overall, the data indicate systematic differences between how individual CI users and NH adults navigate and manipulate listening and social environments in everyday life.

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