Abstract
Background Cochlear implant (CI) users have difficulty appreciating music and perceiving lexical tones in Mandarin Chinese. Wearing a hearing aid (HA) in the contralateral ear for bimodal hearing may provide additional benefits. Objectives To measure the bimodal benefits of music perception and tone recognition and to investigate the relationship between the two in Mandarin-speaking bimodal CI subjects. Materials and methods Sixteen Mandarin-speaking bimodal CI subjects (aged between 16 and 49 years) participated in the study. Music perception (pitch discrimination, melody discrimination and instrument identification) and lexical tone recognition were tested with electric stimulation (CI alone) or bimodal stimulation (CI + HA). Results Subjects showed a significant bimodal benefit in tone recognition in quiet and noise, and in all music perception tests. The bimodal benefit for tone recognition in noise was significantly correlated with that of pitch discrimination thresholds and instrument identification scores. Conclusion Mandarin-speaking bimodal CI users achieved better music perception and tone recognition ability with CI + HA than with CI alone. The bimodal benefit of tone recognition was significantly correlated with that of music perception.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.