Advancing knowledge of human development, developmental disabilities, and neurodegenerative diseases.
Although cochlear implants (CIs) facilitate spoken language acquisition, many CI listeners experience difficulty learning new words.
The Waisman Center has been at the forefront of research on cochlear implants and hearing science for more than two decades.
Her child, who was born with congenital deafness, had received her first cochlear implant early enough to access spoken language, but with only one implant she had struggled with understanding speech in noisy environments or locating sounds.
To investigate the feasibility of using functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to image cortical activity in cochlear implant (CI) users and normal hearing (NH) adults, using either visual-speech or auditory-speech.
Accurate use of interaural time differences (ITDs) for spatial hearing may require access to bilateral auditory input during sensitive periods in human development. Providing bilateral cochlear implants (CIs) simultaneously promotes symmetrical development of bilateral auditory pathways but does not support normal ITD sensitivity.
Many people with single-sided deafness have tinnitus in the deaf ear (and normal hearing in the other ear). We are conducting a clinical trial in collaboration with surgeons at Harvard Medical School, to determine if a CI in the deaf ear provides: (A) relief from tinnitus due to the electrical stimulation, and (B) improved ability to localize sounds.
Title: Does Bilateral Experience Lead to Improved Spatial Unmasking of Speech in Children Who Use Bilateral Cochlear Implants? Legend: We vary the spatial locations of target speech and masking speech, so they are co-located (A) or separated (B). The difference in speech reception thresholds between (A) and (B) indicates advantage from spatial cues (spatial release …
Ruth Litovsky and her team at the Waisman Center work with kids and their families from across the country to get better use of their cochlear implants.
An ongoing study of 45 deaf children who had two cochlear implants finds that their language skills are within the normal range.
Nature has outfitted us with a pair of ears for good reason: having two ears enhances hearing.
