[Effects of temporal fine structure stimulation on Mandarin identification in cochlear implant users]

To assess the contribution of the temporal fine structure cues on speech recognition, especially tone perception of cochlear implant users whose native language is Mandarin Chinese.

Twelve Mandarin speaking users of the MED-EL COMBI 40+ cochlear implants with the standard COMBI 40+ electrode array participated in the study. The subjects were followed up and studied using the longitudinal method for six weeks to compare the difference in speech identification results between fine structure processing (FSP) and continuous interleaved sampler (CIS). The test battery comprised two objective speech tests, including tone identification in quiet as well as a sentence recognition task in quiet and noise.

The scores of acute speech test: after replacing FSP strategy, the acute tone test results were similar to that of daily used CIS strategy(male version t = 0.791, P = 0.446;female version t = 0.679, P = 0.511), but the scores of MHINT were decreased significantly (t = -4.365, P = 0.001). The scores of long-lasting speech test were as follows the scores of tone identification test were sharply increased after subjects used the new coding strategy for six weeks continuously(male version t = 3.023, P = 0.018;female version t = 3.883, P = 0.003) and the MHIN results were similar to that of daily used CIS strategy(t = 1.475, P = 0.173).

The extraction of temporal fine structure cues supplemented in speech processing strategy of cochlear implant benefits the improvements in tone perception and the understanding of speech in cochlear implant recipients, which can further promotes their quality of life.