Work

Stream segregation on a single electrode as a function of pulse rate in cochlear implant listeners

Year: 2012

Type: article

Abstract: While cochlear implants (CIs) usually provide high levels of speech recognition in quiet, speech recognition in noise remains challenging. To overcome these difficulties, it is important to understand how implanted listeners separate a target signal from interferers. Stream segregation has been studied extensively in both normal and electric hearing, as a function of place of stimulation. However, the effects of pulse rate, independent of place, on the perceptual grouping of sequential sounds in electric hearing have not yet been investigated. A rhythm detection task was used to measure stream segregation. The results of this study suggest that while CI listeners can segregate streams based on differences in pulse rate alone, the amount of stream segregation observed decreases as the base pulse rate increases. Further investigation of the perceptual dimensions encoded by the pulse rate and the effect of sequential presentation of different stimulation rates on perception could be beneficial for the future development of speech processing strategies for CIs.

Source: The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

DOI: 10.1121/1.4764875

Authors: Sara I. Duran, Leslie M. Collins, Chandra S. Throckmorton

Institution: Duke University

Language: English

Topic: Hearing Loss and Rehabilitation

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: bronze

Funder: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders

Awards: G7072316924, Implementation and Tuning of Multi-rate Speech Processors for Cochlear Implants