Coherent Coding of Enhanced Interaural Cues Improves Sound Localization in Noise With Bilateral Cochlear Implants.
Ben Williges, Tim Jürgens, Hongmei Hu and 1 others
PMID 29956589WHAT IT FOUND
Enhancing interaural level differences improved sound localization in noise for bilateral cochlear implant users, but using a low-rate coding strategy to preserve timing cues significantly worsened speech understanding.
Key findings
01A coding strategy that preserved timing cues resulted in speech reception thresholds that were 9.8 dB worse than standard processing.
02Adding artificial interaural level differences to a beamformer significantly improved angle discrimination in noise compared to natural cues.
03Six of the nine participants were able to lateralize speech sounds using only timing cues, but this did not translate to improved localization in noise over standard methods.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study involved only nine participants, and not all completed every condition. The testing was acute, meaning participants had no time to acclimatize to the new processing strategies. The study did not compensate for mismatches between the electrode positions in the left and right implants, which affects how well timing cues work. The low-rate strategy used was unfamiliar to the participants, which may have contributed to the poor speech scores.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The work was supported by FP7, FP7-Health, FP7-IDEAS-ERC, and DFG.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that the ability to lateralize sounds with the low-rate strategy means patients will understand speech better. The study showed that while this strategy helped with timing cues, it made speech reception 9.8 dB worse than standard processing.