American Hearing Research Foundation Awards Wiley H. Harrison, M.D., Grant to Study hearing In Cochlear Implant Users

The American Hearing Research Foundation has awarded the Wiley H. Harrison, M.D. Grant to Ted A. Meyer, M.D., Ph.D., of the Medical University of South Carolina, in Charleston. The grant goes to support research in otology, and is a $25,000, one-year grant. Dr. Meyer is studying how patients with cochlear implants hear, especially how they distinguish speech in the context of noise. Studying how cochlear implant users detect laboratory-generated tones within the context of background noise could help determine how implant users detect voices among background noise—a problem many cochlear implant users experience.

The researchers will also use a cochlear implant simulator, a device that is fitted to people with normal hearing that allows them to hear as if they have a cochlear implant. This will allow the researchers to observe how people with normal hearing experience sound filtered through cochlear implants.

Cochlear implants work by picking up sound using a tiny microphone, which converts the signals into electrical impulses which are then relayed to different regions of the auditory nerve through the ear. This does not give a person normal hearing, but instead gives a representation of sound that helps them understand speech. Because there are a limited number of electrodes that relay information to the auditory nerve (usually 12 to 22), spectral resolution is limited with a cochlear implant. Evidence exists that people with normal hearing use across-frequency cues to help them detect signals. Dr. Meyer wants to determine if people with cochlear implants are able to benefit from these across-channel cues.  

Dr. Meyer also wants to determine whether the number of electrodes and how particular implants are designed to filter incoming information can help people better detect speech in noise. He believes that implants that use more electrodes and better spectral resolution will have better speech in noise resolution. Dr. Meyer hopes that by better understanding hearing among people with cochlear implants, the design of the devices can be improved to help them provide better resolution of individual voices, and help users pick out important information from noisy environments.

The American Hearing Research Foundation has provided information to the public and patients on hearing and balance-related disorders, and has funded more than 160 research projects in these fields since 1956. Much of this research has contributed to the development of the cochlear implantation (see attached list of funded cochlear research projects). The AHRF continues to fund eight to 12 research projects each year, with an average grant of $20,000.