Cochlear implant strategies should aim to restore F0-synchronized profiles, not stimulus spectra

Evidence

These IC model responses have implications for the design of signal-processing strategies for listeners with SNHL. Recreating stimulus spectra in the AN rate profiles will not elicit appropriate responses from central neurons, whereas restitution of the F0-synchronized rate profiles may (Rao and Carney 2014 ). This result suggests an experimental question: If the profile of peripheral F0-synchrony in response to voiced sounds can be restored to normal for these listeners, can intelligibility of speech, and especially speech in background noise, be improved? — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5511

Categorization

• SEED: An essay angle: redesigning cochlear implant/hearing aid processing around the pitch-synchrony information that the midbrain actually extracts, rather than reconstructing the full spectrum.
• ADDENDUM: Directly parallels the argument in ‘Grafting & Growth’ that effective infrastructure works with the underlying system’s own logic rather than imposing an external form.