The effect of cochlear implant pulse phase duration on stimulus rankings according to pitch

Abstract

For cochlear implant recipients with deeply inserted electrode arrays, pitch confusions are more prevalent among apical electrodes than among middle and basal electrodes. It was hypothesized that changing phase duration (PD) affects pitch evoked by electrodes in the apex but not in the middle or base of the cochlea. Participants ranked the pitch of stimuli that varied in PD but were presented via the same electrode. Target electrodes included an apical, middle, and basal electrode. Longer PDs led to lower pitch ranks but only among apical electrodes. Increasing the PDs for apical electrodes may help to alleviate pitch confusions.