Visual Temporal Acuity Is Related to Auditory Speech Perception Abilities in Cochlear Implant Users

Abstract

Objective Despite significant improvements in speech perception abilities following cochlear implantation, many pre-lingually deafened cochlear implant (CI) recipients continue to rely heavily on visual information to develop speech and language. Increased reliance on visual cues for understanding spoken language could lead to the development of unique audiovisual integration and visual-only processing abilities in these individuals. Brain imaging studies have demonstrated that good CI performers, as indexed by auditory-only speech perception abilities, have different patterns of visual cortex activation in response to visual and auditory stimuli as compared to poor CI performers. However, no studies have examined whether speech perception performance is related to any type of visual processing abilities following cochlear implantation. The purpose of the present study was to provide a preliminary examination of the relationship between clinical, auditory-only speech perception tests and visual temporal acuity in pre-lingually deafened adult CI users. It was hypothesized that pre-lingually deafened CI users who exhibit better (i.e., more acute) visual temporal processing abilities would demonstrate better auditory-only speech perception performance than those with poorer visual temporal acuity. Design Ten pre-lingually deafened adult CI users were recruited for this study. Participants completed a visual temporal order judgment (vTOJ) task to quantify visual temporal acuity. To assess auditory-only speech perception abilities, participants completed the consonant-nucleus-consonant (CNC) word recognition test and the AzBio sentence recognition test. Results were analyzed using two-tailed partial Pearson correlations, Spearman’s rho correlations, and independent samples t-tests. Results Visual temporal acuity was significantly correlated with auditory-only word and sentence recognition abilities. Additionally, proficient CI users, as assessed via auditory-only speech perception performance, demonstrated significantly better visual temporal acuity than non-proficient CI users. Conclusions These findings provide the first behavioral evidence that visual temporal acuity is related to post-implantation CI proficiency as indexed by auditory-only speech perception performance. These preliminary data bring to light the possible future role of visual temporal acuity in predicting CI outcomes prior to implantation, as well as the possible utility of visual training methods in improving CI outcomes.

Relationship between vestibular sensitivity and multisensory temporal integration

“…Nonetheless, as long as they occur within a short period of time, referred to as the temporal binding window (TBW), they are interpreted as a unified percept. Previous work has demonstrated that people with certain diagnoses, such as dyslexia, autism, and schizophrenia, tend to have widened audiovisual TBWs compared with normal controls (Jahn et al 2017;Martin et al 2013;Stevenson et al 2014;Wallace and Stevenson 2014). Wide TBWs may cause individuals with these diagnoses to merge unrelated stimuli into a single, unified percept, leading to sensory confusion and perhaps explaining some of the characteristics of these conditions.…”

Audiovisual Temporal Processing in Postlingually Deafened Adults with Cochlear Implants

“…Not surprisingly, group differences were only evident when age was included as a covariate in the comparison to correct for the fact that the CI group was older by 8.4 years (Table 2 ). A preliminary study from our group also suggests that visual temporal thresholds in prelingually deafened adults with CIs are predictive of speech comprehension 54 . In the future, closer age-matching between groups, particularly with the vTOJ task, will better eliminate this potential confound and allow us to further investigate between-group differences.…”

Multisensory Integration in Cochlear Implant Recipients

“…Given this, temporal processing across sensory modalities is vital for efficient and effective multisensory integration. Indeed, it is common for clinical populations that exhibit deficits in multisensory temporal processing to concurrently exhibit deficits in integration (Baum et al 2015a, 2015b; Bebko et al 2006; de Boer-Schellekens et al 2013; Fister et al 2016; Hairston et al 2005; Noel et al, In Press; Stevenson et al In Press; Stevenson et al 2015; Stevenson et al 2014b; Stevenson et al 2014c; Wallace et al 2014; Woynaroski et al 2013). Simultaneity judgment tasks are one of the most common paradigms for measuring multisensory temporal perception.…”

“…the more precise their temporal perception), the better their performance in an audiovisual speech-in-noise task (Baskent et al 2011). Furthermore, recent evidence suggests that visual temporal acuity is predictive of auditory word and sentence recognition in CI users (Jahn et al In Press). …”