Auditory cortex activation to natural speech and simulated cochlear implant speech measured with functional near-infrared spectroscopy.

ABSTRACT: The primary goal of most cochlear implant procedures is to improve a patient's ability to discriminate speech. To accomplish this, cochlear implants are programmed so as to maximize speech understanding. However, programming a cochlear implant can be an iterative, labor-intensive process that takes place over months. In this study, we sought to determine whether functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), a non-invasive neuroimaging method which is safe to use repeatedly and for extended periods of time, can provide an objective measure of whether a subject is hearing normal speech or distorted speech. We used a 140 channel fNIRS system to measure activation within the auditory cortex in 19 normal hearing subjects while they listed to speech with different levels of intelligibility. Cus

SUBMITTER: Pollonini L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3939048 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature