Thesis defense Lidwien Veugen(Donders series 287)

1 November 2017

Promotors: prof. dr. A. van Opstal, prof. dr. A. Snik
Copromotors: dr. L. Mens, dr. M. van Wanrooij

From bimodal stimulation towards binaural integration

Since inclusion criteria are expanding, more and more people with hearing

loss receive a cochlear implant (CI). In 15 CI-users the potential benefit

from a conventional hearing aid in the non-implanted ear was investigated.

The goal was to improve speech perception and sound localization by

adjusting settings and algorithms of the hearing aid, aiming to achieve a

loudness balance between both ears. Speech perception in background noise

was significantly improved by matching compression characteristics of the

hearing aid to the CI. Sound localization however did not improve in most

subjects. Furthermore, an alternative hearing test was developed based on

non-linguistic sound stimuli with modulations over time and frequency

(ripples). We found that reaction times to ripple detection provided a

solid objective measure of speech perception.