PROJECT ABSTRACT Improving speech understanding in the presence of background noise by individuals fitted with cochlear implants is an enormous challenge. Although audibility can sometimes be a limiting factor for benefit, more frequently it is because the cues that are often responsible for sound source segregation by individuals with normal hearing, are limited or unavailable. This proposal will alter binaural cues, in the form of magnified ILDs, and deliver them over time to bilateral cochlear implant users. The effects of prolonged exposure will be examined, including the potential for binaural plasticity, as expressed by changes in behavioral and electrophysiological measures of binaural processing.

PROJECT NARRATIVE This project will explore the potential for binaural plasticity in response to prolonged exposure to altered spatial maps that will deliver larger-than-normal binaural cues to bilateral cochlear implant users. The implications for speech intelligibility and localization will be examined using both behavioral and physiological measures.