Cochlear Implant Research Cluster

This is a subgroup that crosses concerns of health and medicine, body, brain and mind, as well as issues of learning as they relate to the processing of sound by cochlear implant recipients.  

Researchers:

Lee Bartel, Professor, Faculty of Music, Director of CMRC.

Lendra Friesen, Associate scientist, Clinical Integrative Biology – Brain Sciences Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute; Director of research, cochlear implant program, otolaryngology, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre; Assistant professor, otolaryngology, University of Toronto

Dr. Joseph Chen, MD, FRCSC, Dept. of Otolarynology - Head & Neck Surgery Sunnybrook HSC, Associate Professor, University of Toronto, Fellowship Director, Otology-Skull Base Surgrery

Dr. Hosam Amodi, MD, FRCSC, Otology & Neurotology Fellow, Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Sunnybrook HSC, University of Toronto

David Shipp, MA, FAAA, Reg. CASLPO Audiologist & Director, Cochlear Implant Program, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Associate Professor, Department of Otolaryngology-HNS, University of Toronto, Coordinator, Cochlear Implant Services, Ontario Ministry of Health & Long Term Car

Sandra Trehub, Professor Emeritus, Psychology, Director of the Auditory Development Lab, University of Toronto Mississauga

Glenn Schellenberg, Professor of Psychology, Director of the Music and Cognition Lab, University of Toronto Mississauga

Takako Fujioka, Scientific Associate, Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest

Lorna MacDonald, Professor, Lois Marshall Chair in Voice, Faculty of Music,

Dr. Blake Papsin MD, MSc, FRCS, FACS, FAAP, Otolaryngology, U of T and The Hospital for Sick Children, Director, Cochlear Implant Program, and Associate Scientist, Neurosciences & Mental Health

Karen A. Gordon, PhD, CCC-A, Reg. CASLPO,
The Hospital for Sick Children, Audiologist, Cochlear Implant Program
Research Institute –Scientist, Neurosciences & Mental Health University of Toronto, Assistant Professor, Otolaryngology

Talar Hopyan, PhD, Department of Psychology, SickKids Hospital


Studies Currently in Progress:

Researchers:  Sandra Trehub, Mathieu Saindon, graduate student; Glenn Schellenberg,
Our current study is with postlingually deafened adults, in particular, those who were interested in music in the pre-implant period (although not necessarily trained) and still engage in some music listening. We'll be focusing largely on their perception of melody and rhythm and their subjective experience of music in the post-implant period. Most of the child implant users that we studied had no acoustic experience with music.
 
Researchers:  Lorna MacDonald, Blake Papsin, Karen A. Gordon, and Talar Hopyan. A study of singing in children with cochlear implants. This project at the Hospital for Sick Children is studying the effectiveness of vocal training in the form of singing lessons on speech production many years post-CI activation. Lessons designed for the cochlear implanted patients were supervised by Lorna MacDonald and conducted by graduates of the Voice Pedagogy program. The control group was hearing aid users in the same age range. The study, the design of the voice lessons, the results on the speech effectiveness of the students, and indications for further collaborations between voice training (singing) and hearing impaired and cochlear implanted students are being examined in preparation for a long-range study, expanding the age group and methodology. Joint funding will be pursued

Researchers: Lee Bartel, Lendra Friesen, Dr. Hosam Amodi,  David Shipp, Dr. Joseph Chen. Research in the current project is focused on the development of a computer based diagnostic tool called Music – Enjoyment Ability Retraining -- Diagnostic Version. MusicEAR Diagnostic consists of test modules focused on (1) Enjoyment of musical excerpts in 4 levels of complexity and three styles; (2) Pitch discrimination; (3) Timbre discrimination; (4) Pitch pattern perception within musical contexts in varying difficulty levels. A pilot study with CI recipients, normal hearing non-musicians, and advanced musicians has been conducted. A current study involves test-retest reliability and some convergent measures for validity.  Music – Enjoyment Ability Retraining-- Retraining Version is nearing completion of the programming and will be subjected to the first extensive pilot test in March – June 2011. 

Researchers:  Homira Osman, Lendra Friesen, Takako Fujioka, Lee Bartel, Joseph Chen:  A Literature Review of Music Listening in Adult Cochlear Implant Recipients: Enjoyment, Perception and Rehabilitation