The effect of spectrotemporal coding on speech perception, musical experience and hearing quality in cochlear implant users

The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the longterm effects of spectrotemporal coding on speech perception, music-related quality of life and hearing quality in cochlear implant (CI) users. The secondary aim of the study was to investigate the effects of demographic characteristics and audiologic findings on the results. The study included 20 young prelingually deaf or hard-of-hearing CI adults implanted at childhood. The first part of the study consisted of audiologic assessment of the patients. Afterwards, the participants' speech perception was assessed by using the Turkish Matrix Sentence Test and the Turkish Hearing in Noise Test (HINT) Both speech perception tests were administered both in silence and noise. To assess spectrotemporal coding skills, a recently developed test, Spectro-Temporal Ripple for Investigating Processor EffectivenesS (STRIPES) was used. After these sound field assessments, the The Music-Related Quality of Life Measure (MuRQoL-Tr) was used to assess the participants' musical experience regarding their attitude to musical activities. Hearing Implant Sound Quality Index (HISQUI19) was used to assess the hearing quality of participants. Finally, the findings were compared with each other. The results showed statistically significant correlations between STRIPES and speech perception (p<0,05). Higher STRIPES density threshold (which means better spectrotemporal skills) were related with better speech perception skills both in quite and noise conditions. The correlations between STRIPES and MuRQoL-Tr showed a significant correlation with the Frequency Perception (p<0,05). This study highlighted the significant effects of spectrotemporal coding skills on longterm speech and music perception in prelingually deaf or hard-of hearing young adults implanted at childhood.