# Modifying spatial maps to improve localization

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2020 · $227,717

## Abstract

PROJECT ABSTRACT
 Improving speech understanding in the presence of background noise by individuals fitted with cochlear implants is an
enormous challenge. Although audibility can sometimes be a limiting factor for benefit, more frequently it is because the
cues that are often responsible for sound source segregation by individuals with normal hearing, are limited or unavailable.
This proposal will alter binaural cues, in the form of magnified ILDs, and deliver them over time to bilateral cochlear
implant users. The effects of prolonged exposure will be examined, including the potential for binaural plasticity, as
expressed by changes in behavioral and electrophysiological measures of binaural processing.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10057906
- **Project number:** 1R21DC018408-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** CHRISTOPHER A BROWN
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $227,717
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-08-01 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10057906

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10057906, Modifying spatial maps to improve localization (1R21DC018408-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10057906. Licensed CC0.

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