Some effects of cochlear implant use on loudness modulation

• Main Author: Ross, Carol F.
• Format: Others
• Published: PDXScholar 1985
• Subjects: Deaf; Voice; Cochlear implants; Speech Pathology and Audiology
• Online Access: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/3524; https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4533&context=open_access_etds

In this study, five deaf individuals with cochlear implants were presented with noise that was manipulated systematically, to test the hypothesis that deaf persons using cochlear prostheses will demonstrate intensity regulation of their vocal output that is more appropriate when their implants are turned on than when turned off. The intensity of their vocal output was measured to determine if they demonstrated a Lombard response, that is, a systematic increase in vocal intensity with increasing intensity of background noise. Results from the study were mixed. With implants on, three subjects made systematic increases in vocal intensity with increasing background noise, while two subjects did not make such increases. In addition, the relation between intensity of vocal output and background noise was closer to the normal function for the three subjects who demonstrated a Lombard response. The "normal function" was defined by measuring the vocal intensity responses of five normal hearing control subjects who performed the same tasks as the experimental subjects.