Auditory Spatial Discrimination and Sound Localization in Single-Sided Deaf Participants Provided with a Cochlear Implant

Introduction: Spatial hearing is most accurate using both ears, but accuracy decreases in persons with asymmetrical hearing between ears. In participants with deafness in one ear but normal hearing in the other ear (single-sided deafness [SSD]), this difference can be compensated by a unilateral cochlear implant (CI). It has been shown that a CI can restore sound localization performance, but it is still unclear to what extent auditory spatial discrimination can be improved. Methods: The present study investigated auditory spatial discrimination using minimum audible angles (MAAs) in 18 CI-SSD participants. Results were compared to 120 age-matched normal-hearing (NH) listeners. Low-frequency (LF) and high-frequency (HF) noise bursts were presented from 4 degrees, 30 degrees, and 60 degrees azimuth on the CI side and on the NH side. MAA thresholds were tested for correlation with localization performance in the same participants. Results: There were eight good performers and ten poor performers. There were more poor performers for LF signals than for HF signals. Performance on the CI side was comparable to performance on the NH side. Most difficulties occurred at 4 degrees and at 30 degrees. Eight of the good performers in the localization task were also good performers in the MAA task. Only the localization ability at 4 degrees on the CI side was positively correlated with the MAA at that location. Conclusion: Our data suggest that a CI can restore localization ability but not necessarily auditory spatial discrimination at the same time. The ability to discriminate between adjacent locations may be trainable during rehabilitation to enhance important auditory skills.

Automated summary

Using a unilateral cochlear implant (CI) can restore auditory localization ability, but its impact on auditory spatial discrimination remains unclear. Low-frequency signals are more challenging to discriminate than high-frequency signals. Localization performance correlates with minimum audible angles (MAAs), suggesting that auditory skills can be enhanced through rehabilitation training.