# Peripheral and central contributions to auditory temporal processing deficits and speech understanding in older cochlear implantees

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIV OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK · 2024 · $541,641

## Abstract

This research aims to understand age-related temporal processing in older cochlear-implant (CI) users. The gap
in knowledge is that critical measurements and comparisons have been unavailable to disentangle peripheral
from central factors that impact CI performance. The long-term goals of this grant are to (1) understand the
biological effects of auditory aging and (2) determine how to best remediate age-related auditory deficits with a
CI. The overall objective of this application, which is the next step toward attainment of our long-term goals, is to
disentangle the peripheral and central contributions to age-related temporal processing deficits in CI users. Our
central hypothesis is that age-related speech perception deficits are explained by unique contributions from pe-
ripheral and central auditory functions, which significantly affect outcomes in older CI users. The rationale is that
CIs are uniquely suited to disentangle peripheral vs central contributions of age-related temporal processing
deficits because they can bypass or easily characterize peripheral contributions to hearing, making an ideal
system for auditory aging research. We plan to test our central hypothesis by pursuing the following specific
aims: (1) Determine the extent to which temporal processing from single-electrode stimulation can be explained
by aging and the peripheral electrode-to-neural interface in CI subjects; (2) Determine the extent to which speech
perception can be explained by aging and the peripheral electrode-to-neural interface in CI subjects; (3) Deter-
mine the extent and manner in which central auditory compensation overcomes peripheral processing deficits
that contribute to age-related performance declines in CI subjects. These aims will yield the following expected
outcomes. First, we will understand how aging and ENI correlate with each other, and how well peripheral con-
tributions explain simple single-electrode temporal-processing performance. Second, we will understand if pe-
ripheral contributions play a smaller role in explaining speech perception performance using multi-electrode stim-
ulation, relative to perception of simple signals presented to single electrodes. Third, we will ascertain if age-
related central processing deficits contribute above and beyond the peripheral deficits for processing of both
simple and complex acoustic signals (including speech) among CI listeners. The proposed research is significant
because expanding our understanding of the locus of the age-related temporal processing deficits will help de-
velop age-specific guidance to CI candidacy, approaches to CI programming, and CI rehabilitation, improving
an older CI user’s performance and quality of life. The proposed research is innovative because CIs offer a
unique ability to bypass and characterize the periphery, allowing us to disentangle peripheral vs central mecha-
nisms that contribute to age-related hearing deficits.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10813791
- **Project number:** 5R01DC020316-08
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK
- **Principal Investigator:** Matthew J. Goupell
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $541,641
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-04-01 → 2027-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10813791

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10813791, Peripheral and central contributions to auditory temporal processing deficits and speech understanding in older cochlear implantees (5R01DC020316-08). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10813791. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*