scholarly journals The use of fundamental frequency for lexical segmentation in listeners with cochlear implants

2009 ◽  
Vol 125 (6) ◽  
pp. EL236-EL241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Spitzer ◽  
Julie Liss ◽  
Tony Spahr ◽  
Michael Dorman ◽  
Kaitlin Lansford
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Lexical Segmentation

Effects of Fundamental Frequency Contours on Sentence Recognition in Mandarin-Speaking Children With Cochlear Implants

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (11) ◽  
pp. 3855-3864
Author(s):  
Wanting Huang ◽  
Lena L. N. Wong ◽  
Fei Chen ◽  
Haihong Liu ◽  
Wei Liang
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Signal To Noise ◽  
Sentence Recognition ◽  
Test Conditions ◽  
Age Appropriate ◽  
F0 Contour ◽  
Appropriate Sentences

Purpose Fundamental frequency (F0) is the primary acoustic cue for lexical tone perception in tonal languages but is processed in a limited way in cochlear implant (CI) systems. The aim of this study was to evaluate the importance of F0 contours in sentence recognition in Mandarin-speaking children with CIs and find out whether it is similar to/different from that in age-matched normal-hearing (NH) peers. Method Age-appropriate sentences, with F0 contours manipulated to be either natural or flattened, were randomly presented to preschool children with CIs and their age-matched peers with NH under three test conditions: in quiet, in white noise, and with competing sentences at 0 dB signal-to-noise ratio. Results The neutralization of F0 contours resulted in a significant reduction in sentence recognition. While this was seen only in noise conditions among NH children, it was observed throughout all test conditions among children with CIs. Moreover, the F0 contour-induced accuracy reduction ratios (i.e., the reduction in sentence recognition resulting from the neutralization of F0 contours compared to the normal F0 condition) were significantly greater in children with CIs than in NH children in all test conditions. Conclusions F0 contours play a major role in sentence recognition in both quiet and noise among pediatric implantees, and the contribution of the F0 contour is even more salient than that in age-matched NH children. These results also suggest that there may be differences between children with CIs and NH children in how F0 contours are processed.

scholarly journals Basic Measures of Prosody in Spontaneous Speech of Children With Early and Late Cochlear Implantation

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (12) ◽  
pp. 3075-3094 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daan J. van de Velde ◽  
Johan H. M. Frijns ◽  
Mieke Beers ◽  
Vincent J. van Heuven ◽  
Claartje C. Levelt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Outcome Measures ◽  
Cochlear Implantation ◽  
Spontaneous Speech ◽  
Spectral Measures ◽  
Temporal Dimension ◽  
Temporal Measures ◽  
Over Time

PurposeRelative to normally hearing (NH) peers, the speech of children with cochlear implants (CIs) has been found to have deviations such as a high fundamental frequency, elevated jitter and shimmer, and inadequate intonation. However, two important dimensions of prosody (temporal and spectral) have not been systematically investigated. Given that, in general, the resolution in CI hearing is best for the temporal dimension and worst for the spectral dimension, we expected this hierarchy to be reflected in the amount of CI speech's deviation from NH speech. Deviations, however, were expected to diminish with increasing device experience.MethodOf 9 Dutch early- and late-implanted (division at 2 years of age) children and 12 hearing age-matched NH controls, spontaneous speech was recorded at 18, 24, and 30 months after implantation (CI) or birth (NH). Six spectral and temporal outcome measures were compared between groups, sessions, and genders.ResultsOn most measures, interactions of Group and/or Gender with Session were significant. For CI recipients as compared with controls, performance on temporal measures was not in general more deviant than spectral measures, although differences were found for individual measures. The late-implanted group had a tendency to be closer to the NH group than the early-implanted group. Groups converged over time.ConclusionsResults did not support the phonetic dimension hierarchy hypothesis, suggesting that the appropriateness of the production of basic prosodic measures does not depend on auditory resolution. Rather, it seems to depend on the amount of control necessary for speech production.

Use of Visual Feedback to Treat Negative Intraoral Air Pressures of Preschoolers With Cochlear Implants

2000 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maureen B. Higgins ◽  
Elizabeth A. McCleary ◽  
Laura Schulte
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Visual Feedback ◽  
The Other ◽  
Deaf Children ◽  
Frequent Use ◽  
Before And After

The primary purpose of this study was to determine if negative intraoral air pressures (−P o ) produced by young deaf children can be treated effectively with visual feedback. We used two forms of visual feedback. One was a display of the P o signal on an oscilloscope, and the other was movement of cellophane streamers placed in front of the children’s mouths. Participants were two 5-year-old boys who had been using cochlear implants (CIs) for less than 6 months. Both children were congenitally deafened and had very limited speech production and perception skills. In addition to frequent usage of −P o , both children exhibited deviant phonatory behaviors, so phonatory goals were incorporated into treatment. The magnitude and direction of P o was monitored, as well as fundamental frequency and electroglottograph cycle width. Data were collected at baseline, before and after treatment sessions, and 7 weeks after termination of treatment. One child responded well to treatment of −P o with both forms of visual feedback, and progress was maintained at follow-up. For the other child, +P o occurred more frequently as the study progressed, and he rarely produced −P o by the end of the investigation. However, because changes were evident in baseline as well as during treatment, it is difficult to attribute his more frequent use of +P o specifically to treatment. The phonation of the two children changed in ways that were consistent with their phonatory goals, although the degree of change was not always significant. Change was more evident for phonatory behaviors that could be shaped with visual feedback. Although both children exhibited some undesirable speech/voice behaviors in response to visual feedback, there was no evidence of long-lasting mislearning. Although our data are limited, it appears that treatment of −P o can be efficacious for some young children with CIs, even those with very poor speech perception and speech production skills. Further, treatment of −P o can be incorporated effectively with other speech production goals.

scholarly journals Experiments on Auditory-Visual Perception of Sentences by Users of Unilateral, Bimodal, and Bilateral Cochlear Implants

2016 ◽  
Vol 59 (6) ◽  
pp. 1505-1519 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael F. Dorman ◽  
Julie Liss ◽  
Shuai Wang ◽  
Visar Berisha ◽  
Cimarron Ludwig ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Relative Strength ◽  
Speech Understanding ◽  
Bilateral Cochlear Implants ◽  
Place Of Articulation ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Test Conditions ◽  
Lexical Segmentation

Purpose Five experiments probed auditory-visual (AV) understanding of sentences by users of cochlear implants (CIs). Method Sentence material was presented in auditory (A), visual (V), and AV test conditions to listeners with normal hearing and CI users. Results (a) Most CI users report that most of the time, they have access to both A and V information when listening to speech. (b) CI users did not achieve better scores on a task of speechreading than did listeners with normal hearing. (c) Sentences that are easy to speechread provided 12 percentage points more gain to speech understanding than did sentences that were difficult. (d) Ease of speechreading for sentences is related to phrase familiarity. (e) Users of bimodal CIs benefit from low-frequency acoustic hearing even when V cues are available, and a second CI adds to the benefit of a single CI when V cues are available. (f) V information facilitates lexical segmentation by improving the recognition of the number of syllables produced and the relative strength of these syllables. Conclusions Our data are consistent with the view that V information improves CI users' ability to identify syllables in the acoustic stream and to recognize their relative juxtaposed strengths. Enhanced syllable resolution allows better identification of word onsets, which, when combined with place-of-articulation information from visible consonants, improves lexical access.

scholarly journals Acoustic analysis of voice in children with cochlear implants

2014 ◽  
Vol 67 (suppl. 1) ◽  
pp. 32-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maja Miljkovic ◽  
Mila Veselinovic ◽  
Ivana Sokolovac ◽  
Dragan Dankuc ◽  
Zoran Komazec ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Speech Development ◽  
Voice Pitch ◽  
Acoustic Parameters ◽  
Noise Ratio ◽  
Hearing Children

Introduction. The focus of this study was the analysis of objective acoustic characteristics of voice in children with cochlear implants. The objective of this study was to compare acoustic parameters of voice in children with cochlear implants and normal hearing children of the same age, and to determine differences, if there were any. Material and Methods. There were 60 children (aged from 6 to 13) included in this prospective study. They were divided into 2 groups: children with cochlear implants (30) and normal hearing children with normal speech development (30). The most stable voice sample was analyzed using a software program Dr Speech: Vocal Assessment. Objective acoustic analysis of voice included 13 acoustic parameters. Results. Standard deviation of fundamental frequency was significantly (p=0.000) higher in children with cochlear implants, as well as the values of harmonic to noise ratio (p=0.003) and signal to noise ratio (p=0.000) parameters. Values of jitter %, shimmer %, normalized noise energy, fundamental frequency tremor and amplitude tremor showed no significant differences between the two groups. However, the values of parameters that refer to voice frequency (habitual fundamental frequency, mean fundamental frequency, min fundamental frequency and max fundamental frequency) and the mean value of voice intensity (p=0.004), were significantly higher in the boys and the girls with cochlear implants than in the normal hearing children. Conclusion. Gender non-related parameters of hoarseness did not show significant differences between the children with cochlear implants and the normal hearing children; the results of cochlear implantation and voice and speech education were therefore positive. However, the children with cochlear implants of both gender showed significantly higher values of voice intensity, voice pitch and insufficient control of voice pitch variation.

Bimodal Fitting and Bilateral Cochlear Implants in Children With Significant Residual Hearing: The Impact of Asymmetry in Spatial Release of Masking on Localization

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Marloes Sparreboom ◽  
Sebastián Ausili ◽  
Martijn J. H. Agterberg ◽  
Emmanuel A. M. Mylanus
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Hearing Aid ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Residual Hearing ◽  
Bilateral Cochlear Implants ◽  
Spatial Release ◽  
Left Right Asymmetry ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This study aimed to gain more insight into the primary auditory abilities of children with significant residual hearing in order to improve decision making when choosing between bimodal fitting or sequential bilateral cochlear implantation. Method Sound localization abilities, spatial release of masking, and fundamental frequency perception were tested. Nine children with bimodal fitting and seven children with sequential bilateral cochlear implants were included in the study. As a reference, 15 children with normal hearing and two children with simultaneous bilateral cochlear implants were included. Results On all outcome measures, the implanted children performed worse than the normal hearing children. For high-frequency localization, children with sequential bilateral cochlear implants performed significantly better than children with bimodal fitting. Compared to children with normal hearing, the left–right asymmetry in spatial release of masking was significant. When the implant was hindered by noise, bimodally fitted children obtained significantly lower spatial release of masking compared to when the hearing aid was hindered by noise. Overall, the larger the left–right asymmetry in spatial release of masking, the poorer the localization skills. No significant differences were found in fundamental frequency perception between the implant groups. Conclusions The data hint to an advantage of bilateral implantation over bimodal fitting. The extent of asymmetry in spatial release of masking is a promising tool for decision making when choosing whether to continue with the hearing aid or to provide a second cochlear implant in children with significant residual hearing.

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