Prosody provides information such as the emotional state of a speaker and is used to transform linguistic content from statements to questions with the use of intonation. Designed primarily for the purpose of speech perception, they are generally effective in quiet environments but less effective for perceiving speech in noisy environments or for perceiving prosody. There was no significant difference between the posttraining results for either training program, suggesting that both conferred benefits for training CI recipients to better perceive speech.Ĭochlear implants (CIs) are surgically implanted hearing devices that enable the perception of sound for most persons diagnosed with severe to profound deafness. In comparison, NH listeners performed at ceiling for these tasks. Specifically, consonant perception in quiet and question/statement prosody was improved. Results indicated that there were some benefits for speech perception tasks for CI recipients after melodic contour training. Sixteen adult CI recipients (aged 26–86 years) and twelve normal hearing (NH) adult listeners (aged 21–42 years) were tested on a speech perception battery at baseline and then after 6 weeks of melodic contour training. These melodic contours were simple 5-note sequences formed into 9 contour patterns, such as “rising” or “rising-falling.” One training program controlled difficulty by manipulating interval sizes, the other by note durations.
This study evaluated two melodic contour training programs and their relative efficacy as measured on a number of speech perception tasks. Auditory training has been proposed as a method of improving speech perception for CI recipients, and recent efforts have focussed on the potential benefits of music-based training. Cochlear implant (CI) recipients generally have good perception of speech in quiet environments but difficulty perceiving speech in noisy conditions, reduced sensitivity to speech prosody, and difficulty appreciating music.