Cochlear implants (CIs) stimulate auditory neurons with electric pulse trains whose amplitudes are modulated using envelopes extracted from different frequency bands, conveying essential speech cues. This study investigated how the rate of stimulation pulses affects envelope processing and speech perception in ten post-lingually deaf CI users....
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
Findings are ahead of print and details on sample size and effect sizes are not yet fully available; no immediate change to cochlear implant programming practice is warranted until the full results are reviewed.
Understanding how pulse rate shapes speech perception in cochlear implant users could guide future device programming strategies to improve real-world speech intelligibility.
- 01Study investigates pulse-rate effects on envelope processing in cochlear implant (CI) users.
- 02Both single-channel and multi-channel conditions were tested to isolate processing variables.
- 03Consonant identification was used as the primary speech perception outcome measure.
- 04Published ahead of print in Hearing Research (October 2026; DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2026.109846).
- 05Findings may have implications for optimising CI fitting and stimulation parameters.
Pulse rate affects envelope processing performance in cochlear implant users.
studyunclearPulse rate affects consonant identification in cochlear implant users.
studyunclear- PMID
- 42962444
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.heares.2026.109846.
- Journal
- Hearing Research
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 4
- Population
- Cochlear implant users
- Intervention
- Variation of electrical pulse rate in cochlear implant signal processing (single- and multi-channel envelope processing)
- Comparator
- Different pulse rate conditions (single- vs. multi-channel)
Primary outcomes
Single-channel envelope processing performance; Multi-channel envelope processing performance; Consonant identification accuracy