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Lateralization of interaural timing differences with multi-electrode stimulation in bilateral cochlear-implant users
Alan Kan1, Heath G Jones2, Ruth Y Litovsky3
1Binaural Hearing and Speech Laboratory, Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1500 Highland Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53705, USA ahkan@waisman.wisc.edu.
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
|December 3, 2016
Summary
Bilateral cochlear implant users can perceive complex sounds as a single object with multi-electrode stimulation, even with varying interaural time difference (ITD) sensitivity. This suggests ITD variability does not hinder auditory object formation (AOF) in these devices.
Area of Science:
- Auditory Neuroscience
- Biomedical Engineering
- Signal Processing
Background:
- Bilateral cochlear implant (BiCI) users exhibit diverse interaural time difference (ITD) sensitivity across cochlear locations.
- Understanding how this variability impacts binaural hearing is crucial for optimizing device performance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of multi-electrode binaural stimulation on auditory object formation (AOF) and lateralization in BiCI users.
- To determine if ITD sensitivity variability compromises AOF and lateralization with complex sounds processed through multi-channel stimulation.
Main Methods:
- Comparison of AOF and ITD lateralization between single- and multi-electrode stimulation configurations.
- Utilized complex sounds encoded with multi-channel processing in BiCI users.
Main Results:
- The majority of BiCI users (7/8) reported perceiving a single auditory object during multi-electrode stimulation.
- The range of perceived sound lateralization remained comparable between single- and multi-electrode stimulation conditions.
Conclusions:
- Variability in single-electrode ITD sensitivity does not appear to compromise auditory object formation (AOF) when using multi-electrode binaural stimulation.
- Multi-electrode stimulation in BiCI users supports robust AOF and lateralization, suggesting effective binaural processing.
