Bimodal fitting benefits emotional responses to music following unilateral cochlear implantation

Investigate contributions of cochlear implants (CIs) and hearing aids (HAs) towards musical emotion in bimodal (CI and HA together) users.
Bimodal implantees and normal-hearing (NH) controls were recruited from a tertiary academic centre and via community outreach. Participants listened to ten musical clips and rated on scales of valence (happiness vs. sadness) and arousal (excitement vs. calm). Primary outcome measures included discrepancy – difference from validated normative ratings for each stimulus – and range – difference between each participant’s maximum and minimum rating – of both valence and arousal.
27 bimodal implantees and 21 NH controls
Compared with bimodal listening, participants experienced increased valence discrepancy with CI alone (2.07 vs. 1.86, p = 0.027) and increased arousal discrepancy with HA alone (1.84 vs. 1.60, p = 0.029). Similarly, valence range was lower in the CI-only condition (4.57 vs. 5.40, p = 0.011), and arousal range was lower via HA (4.84 vs. 5.68, p = 0.013). CI listening alone was not significantly different from HA alone for any measured outcome. Bimodal participants performed worse than NH controls.
Bimodal listening has diminished emotional responses to music compared to NH controls, but is superior to HA or CI alone. Our findings support bimodal fitting to enhance musical experience.

本研究旨在探究人工耳蜗（cochlear implants, CIs）与助听器（hearing aids, HAs）对双模式（即同时使用人工耳蜗与助听器）使用者音乐情绪感知的贡献。
双模式植入者与正常听力（normal-hearing, NH）对照组受试者均从三级学术医疗中心及社区外展渠道招募获得。受试者需聆听10段音乐片段，并基于情绪效价（valence，对应愉悦与悲伤维度）与情绪唤醒度（arousal，对应兴奋与平静维度）量表完成评分。本研究的主要结局指标包括效价与唤醒度两方面的评分偏差值（即受试者评分与经过验证的标准评分之间的差值）以及评分极差（即受试者单次评分中最高分与最低分之间的差值）。
本研究共纳入27名双模式植入者与21名正常听力对照组受试者。
与双模式聆听状态相比，受试者仅使用人工耳蜗时的效价评分偏差值显著升高（2.07 vs. 1.86，p=0.027），仅使用助听器时的唤醒度评分偏差值显著升高（1.84 vs. 1.60，p=0.029）。与之类似，仅使用人工耳蜗状态下的效价评分极差显著降低（4.57 vs. 5.40，p=0.011），仅使用助听器状态下的唤醒度评分极差同样显著降低（4.84 vs. 5.68，p=0.013）。仅使用人工耳蜗与仅使用助听器两种状态下，所有测量结局指标均无显著差异。双模式使用者的音乐情绪感知表现显著差于正常听力对照组受试者。
与正常听力对照组相比，双模式聆听状态下受试者对音乐的情绪感知反应有所减弱，但相较于单独使用助听器或单独使用人工耳蜗的状态，双模式聆听的表现更优。本研究结果支持采用双模式适配方案以提升使用者的音乐聆听体验。