Effects of Noise and Reverberation on Virtual Sound Localization for Listeners with Bilateral Cochlear Implants

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-1-2011

Journal / Book Title

Ear and Hearing

Abstract

Objective: This study investigated the effects of both noise and reverberation on the ability of listeners with bilateral cochlear implants (BCIs) to localize and the feasibility of using a virtual localization test to evaluate BCI users. Design: Seven adults with normal hearing (NH) and two adults with BCIs participated. All subjects completed the virtual localization test in quiet and at 0, -4, -8 dB signal-to-noise ratio in simulated anechoic and reverberant environments. BCI users were also tested at +4 dB signal-to-noise ratio. The noise source was at 0°. A three-word phrase was presented at 70 dB SPL from nine simulated locations in the frontal horizontal plane (±90°). Results: Results revealed significantly poorer localization accuracy for BCI users than NH listeners in all conditions. Significant reverberation effects were observed for BCI users but not listeners with NH. Conclusion: Noise and reverberation have a significant effect on BCI users, and their localization ability can be evaluated using these virtual tests.

DOI

10.1097/AUD.0b013e318216eba6

Journal ISSN / Book ISBN

ISSN: 1538-4674

Published Citation

Zheng, Y., Koehnke, J., Besing, J., & Spitzer, J. (2011). Effects of noise and reverberation on virtual sound localization for listeners with bilateral cochlear implants. Ear and hearing, 32(5), 569–572. https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0b013e318216eba6

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