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Updated: Jun 12, 2026

Systematic Hearing Performance Evaluation Process for Adolescents with Cochlear Implantation at Early Ages
Published on: March 24, 2023
Neurophysiological evidence of impaired musical sound perception in cochlear-implant users
Pascale Sandmann1, Andrea Kegel, Tom Eichele
1Division of Neuropsychology, University of Zurich, Switzerland. pascale.sandmann@uni-oldenburg.de,
Objective:
Music perception with a cochlear implant (CI) can be unsatisfactory because current-day implants are primarily designed to enable speech discrimination. The present study aimed at evaluating electrophysiological correlates of musical sound perception in CI users to help achieve the long-term goal of improved restoration of hearing in those individuals.
Methods:
Auditory discrimination accuracy in adult CI users (n=12) and matched normal-hearing controls (n=12) was measured by behavioral discrimination tasks and mismatch negativity (MMN) recordings. Discrimination profiles were obtained by using a set of clarinet sounds (original/vocoded) varying along different acoustic dimensions (frequency/intensity/duration) and deviation magnitudes (four levels).
Results:
Behavioral results and MMN recordings revealed reduced auditory discrimination accuracy in CI users. An inverse relationship was found between MMN amplitudes and duration of profound deafness.
Conclusions:
CI users have difficulties in discriminating small changes in the acoustic properties of musical sounds. The recently developed multi-feature MMN paradigm (Pakarinen et al., 2007) can be used to objectively evaluate discrimination abilities of CI users for musical sounds.
Significance:
Measuring auditory discrimination functions by means of a multi-feature MMN paradigm could be of substantial clinical value by providing a comprehensive profile of the extent of restored hearing in CI users.
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