# Adaptation to frequency-place functions in cochlear implant users

> **NIH NIH R01** · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · 2020 · $625,713

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The human auditory brain is remarkably plastic but we still do not know just how plastic it is, particularly when it
comes to higher cognitive functions like speech perception and music enjoyment. These are uniquely human
skills which are difficult (if not impossible) to study in animal models. Post-lingually hearing impaired cochlear
implant (CI) users have provided a very interesting platform to study plasticity in response to auditory stimuli
sent to a non-standard peripheral frequency-place function. This is because the frequency-place function
imposed by a CI is different for each individual (due to differences in cochlear size, electrode location, and
neural survival patterns) and can be quite different from the “natural”, physiological frequency-place function.
This proposal seeks to investigate auditory plasticity in traditional post-lingually hearing impaired CI users
(Aims 1 and 2) as well as in a novel population of CI users who have normal hearing in the unimplanted ear
(Aims 3 and 4). This new clinical population of CI users with single-sided deafness (CI-SSD) is ideal to study
adaptation to frequency-place functions without the confounds that complicate interpretation of results in
listeners with partial or complete deafness.
In Aim 1 we will study the combined effect of using electrode selection and listener-selected frequency
allocation tables (FATs) in postlingually hearing impaired CI users. There are indications that these two
interventions (both of which affect the frequency-place function in different ways) may enhance speech
perception and sound quality. In Aim 2 we will test the use of a smartphone-based app to facilitate the
selection of customized frequency-place functions in the real world rather than in the acoustically controlled
environment of a laboratory or a clinic. In Aim 3 we will use three behavioral tests of adaptation to frequency-
place functions in CI-SSD patients. Data from one of these tests will allow us to meet an important sub-aim: to
assess the validity of existing acoustic models of cochlear implantation, and to create improved acoustic
models whose sound quality and speech intelligibility are similar to those obtained with a CI. Lastly, in Aim 4
we will study the effect of user-selected frequency-place functions on bilateral music sound quality and bilateral
unmasking, also in CI-SSD patients.
The proposed experiments will yield novel and unique information about how postlingually hearing impaired
humans adapt to modified frequency-place functions, and thus will make an important contribution to studying
basic auditory function in humans. We believe that the proposed research also has important translational
implications that are likely to influence clinical practice as well as research with CI users.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9948615
- **Project number:** 5R01DC003937-21
- **Recipient organization:** NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Mario A Svirsky
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $625,713
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1999-01-15 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9948615

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9948615, Adaptation to frequency-place functions in cochlear implant users (5R01DC003937-21). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9948615. Licensed CC0.

---

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