Behavioral frequency discrimination ability of partially deafened cats using cochlear implants

YB Benovitski; PJ Blamey; GD Rathbone; JB Fallon

Journal article

Behavioral frequency discrimination ability of partially deafened cats using cochlear implants

YB Benovitski, PJ Blamey, GD Rathbone, JB Fallon

Hearing Research | ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV | Published : 2014

DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2014.06.005

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of cochlear implant (CI) use on behavioral frequency discrimination ability in partially deafened cats. We hypothesized that the additional information provided by the CI would allow subjects to perform better on a frequency discrimination task. Four cats with a high frequency hearing loss induced by ototoxic drugs were first trained on a go/no-go, positive reinforcement, frequency discrimination task and reached asymptotic performance (measured by d' - detection theory). Reference frequencies (1, 4, and 7kHz) were systematically rotated (Block design) every 9-11 days to cover the hearing range of the cats while avoiding bias arising from th..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

James Fallon Author

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Awarded by National Institutes of Health

Funding Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the National Institutes of Health (HHS-N-263-2007-00053-C), the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (GNT1002430) and The Department of Electronic Engineering, La-Trobe University. The Bionics Institute acknowledges the support it receives from the Victorian Government through its Operational Infrastructure Support Program. The authors are grateful to Andrew Wise for implant surgeries; Alison Neil, Nicole Critch and Amy Morley for technical assistance; Sam Irvine for advice; Sue Pierce for veterinary advice; Sue Mckay for animal maintenance; and Dexter Irvine for comments on the earlier versions of the manuscript.