Melodic, Rhythmic, and Timbral Perception of Adult Cochlear Implant Users

Abstract

The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate adult Ineraid and Nucleus cochlear implant (CI) users’ perceptual accuracy for melodic and rhythmic patterns, and quality ratings for different musical instruments. Subjects were 18 postlingually deafened adults with CI experience. Evaluative measures included the Primary Measures of Music Audiation (PMMA) and a Musical Instrument Quality Rating. Performance scores on the PMMA were correlated with speech perception measures, music background, and subject characteristics. Results demonstrated a broad range of perceptual accuracy and quality ratings across subjects. On these measures, performance for temporal contrasts was better than for melodic contrasts independent of CI device. Trends in the patterns of correlations between speech and music perception suggest that particular structural elements of music are differentially accessible to cochlear implant users. Additionally, notable qualitative differences for ratings of musical instruments were observed between Nucleus and Ineraid users