# Functionally Important Features of the Electrically Stimulated Cochlea

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2021 · $543,645

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
 The objectives of our research are (1) to determine how conditions in the cochlea near the individual
cochlear-implant electrodes affect specific psychophysical and electrophysiological measures of electrical
hearing; (2) to determine the relationships of these specific measures to speech recognition with the cochlear
prosthesis; and (3) to use this information to increase the benefit that cochlear implant patients receive from
their prostheses. The data from these studies can be used in two ways to improve speech recognition in
cochlear implant users. First, based on animal work that will correlate the pattern of pathology with functional
measures, we will provide audiologists with simple, clinically-applicable measures they can use to assess
individual stimulation sites in a patient's cochlea and guide selection of the best stimulation sites for an
individual patient's speech processor MAP. Second, the data can help research scientists and surgeons
determine the best anatomical targets for improving implant function through tissue-preservation and tissue-
engineering strategies that make the impaired cochlea a better recipient of prosthetic stimulation. Our
approach involves psychophysical and electrophysiological experiments in guinea pigs as well as
psychophysical, electrophysiological and speech recognition studies in humans. We will measure
psychophysical performance, such as perceptual integration of pulse trains or phase duration, and
electrophysiological performance such as the rate at which evoked neural responses grow as a function of
stimulus level. These measurements will be made at individual stimulation sites in guinea pigs and humans.
In guinea pigs, we will determine the specific anatomical features in the hearing-impaired cochlea that are
correlated with these measures. In humans we will determine the correlation of these same measures with
speech recognition in quiet and in noisy backgrounds. We will then use these measures in humans to select
the best stimulation sites to include in individual subjects' speech processor MAPs. This approach is
supported by our previous studies showing that subjects usually perform better using a processor MAP that
includes a subset of stimulation sites, carefully selected based on appropriate functional measures, than they
do with a MAP that uses all available sites. The work proposed in this application will deepen our
understanding of the mechanisms underlying variation in speech recognition performance across users of
cochlear implants and serve as a guide for establishing and testing biological and clinical procedures that will
improve performance in individual patients.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10059243
- **Project number:** 5R01DC015809-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** BRYAN E PFINGST
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $543,645
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-12-01 → 2022-09-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10059243

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10059243, Functionally Important Features of the Electrically Stimulated Cochlea (5R01DC015809-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10059243. Licensed CC0.

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