Cochlear implants are a surgically implantable device that bypasses damaged auditory cells and directly stimulates the auditory nerve as a treatment for those with severe-profound hearing loss. Cochlear implants have been successful in restoring sound awareness and speech perception for many patients, but there is significant variability in outcomes, and many people with cochlear implants have difficulty with speech in background noise.   Reiss and colleagues study ways to improve these outcomes through a variety of approaches.

There are two laboratories: a human clinical research laboratory, and neurophysiology/cochlear implant design laboratory. In the clinical lab, researchers study pitch and speech perception in human subjects with cochlear implants and/or hearing aids, with an emphasis on: 1) combined acoustic and electric stimulation; 2) binaural fusion, meaning how the brain fuses signals picked up by each ear, and how this can lead to binaural interference, especially when listening to speech in background noise; and 3) plasticity and how plasticity can shape perceptual responses and be used to improve outcomes. In the neurophysiology lab, we are currently studying whether electrical stimulation causes hearing loss for those who use combined acoustic and electric stimulation, and if so, what designs or treatments may reduce hearing loss and improve patient outcomes with cochlear implants.