The long-term goals of the present proposal are to develop individualized, efficient and effective training protocols and materials to maximize cochlear implant patient performance in real-world listening conditions. We hypothesize that targeted contrast training can greatly improve cochlear implant patients'performance for a variety of simulated real-world listening conditions, and that individualized training protocols and materials may be necessary to maximize training outcomes. We further hypothesize that passive learning may not allow cochlear implant patients to receive the full benefit of advanced coding strategies, and that targeted auditory training may help patients access the additional cues provided by novel processing schemes. There are three specific aims in the proposed research. First, we propose to measure the benefits of auditory training in simulated real-world listening conditions, including speech perception in noise, speech perception via telephone, and music perception. Second, we propose to develop individualized, efficient and effective training protocols and materials to maximize training outcomes. Third, we propose to quantify interactions between auditory training and changes to speech processor parameters. While the proposed experiments will evaluate different aspects of auditory training somewhat independently, there are areas of overlapping consideration that may be combined to advance auditory rehabilitation techniques for cochlear implant patients. These proposed experiments have great theoretical significance, as the results will shed light on auditory plasticity in electric hearing and the importance of training when evaluating experimental speech processor parameters. The experiments have even greater clinical significance, as the results will provide strong evidence of the benefits of auditory training, hopefully leading to affordable, efficient and effective rehabilitation that cochlear implant patients can perform at home, using personal computers. We expect that these training approaches, if successful in real-world simulations, will generalize to improved performance outside the lab. As recent advances in implant technology seem to be reaching the point of diminishing returns, auditory training may provide the most cost-effective approach for cochlear implant patients to maximize the benefit of the implant device.
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