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CI Neural Mechanisms

Award Number: K23DC019970
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: TRAINING/TRAINEESHIP
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 12/01/2021
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 11/30/2025

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CI Neural Mechanisms - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Cochlear implants (CIs), which directly stimulate the auditory nerve (AN), are widely considered to be the most successful neuroprosthetic device. However, patients with CIs do not understand speech as well as people with normal hearing, and there remains an unmet clinical need to improve performance in established CI users. CIs are adjusted for each listener by varying the stimulus parameters on each electrode (“programming”); however, programming techniques have largely remained unchanged since CIs were first approved by the FDA in 1984. Studies have shown that 1) the estimated density of AN fibers affects speech recognition outcomes in CI users, 2) AN density can be estimated at each electrode site in CI users, and 3) speech recognition improves for some CI users when stimulating electrode sites with higher AN density. While these studies show that speech recognition seems to be at least somewhat dependent on the ability of AN to precisely code the signal, encoding of information at the level of the auditory cortex is also important for adequate speech understanding. The present studies will define the role of AN density in the precise coding of “timing” (temporal) information and quantify the extent to which stimulating electrodes with higher AN density affects encoding of temporal information at the level of the auditory cortex. We hypothesize that users will show improved speech understanding when using a CI program that stimulates electrodes with higher AN density, but these improvements will be associated with more precise encoding of temporal cues within the auditory cortex.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $190,739 )
2025	2025	THE MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA	179 ASHLEY AVE	CHARLESTON	SC	29425	CHARLESTON	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	4	11/22/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$190,739
														Subtotal = $190,739

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $194,486 )
2024	2024	THE MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA	179 ASHLEY AVE	CHARLESTON	SC	29425	CHARLESTON	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	3	11/14/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$194,486
														Subtotal = $194,486

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $194,584 )
2023	2023	MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA THE	179 ASHLEY AVE	CHARLESTON	SC	29425	CHARLESTON	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	2	11/23/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$194,584
														Subtotal = $194,584

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $194,165 )
2022	2022	MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA THE	179 ASHLEY AVE	CHARLESTON	SC	29425	CHARLESTON	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	1	11/4/2021	NEW	$194,165
														Subtotal = $194,165

Grand Total All Awards = $773,974

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CI Neural Mechanisms

Award Number: K23DC019970

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: TRAINING/TRAINEESHIP

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 12/01/2021

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 11/30/2025

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