Speech Production in cochlear-implant Users

University Of Texas Dallas, Richardson TX

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Linked publications & trials

Abstract

An increasing number of hearing-impaired children and adults across the world are receiving cochlear implants. Following implantation, these individuals receive significant benefits in speech perception and speech production through electrical hearing. Most importantly, they gain access to auditory feedback (self-hearing), which is crucial for speech acquisition. The objective of the proposed study is to understand how auditory feedback influences speech production. Specifically, this study will examine how speech is modified when produced in the presence or absence of auditory feedback. English and French syllables will be elicited from cochlear-implanted children and adults with their implant device turned on or off. An important strength of this study is that immediate effects of auditory deprivation on production of segmental and suprasegmental aspects of speech can be measured. Also, the effects of auditory feedback on familiar and novel stimuli will be determined by examining both English and French productions of English-speaking talkers. The results will help clarify how pre- linguistically and postlinguistically deafened individuals use auditory feedback for modifying segmental and suprasegmental features of speech. The findings will help determine which aspects of speech production are modified by cochlear implant users based on feedback information from their implant. Thus, signal processing of cochlear implants could be improved to provide richer information about such speech features.