SCIENCE UPDATE

New scientific studies summarized for you

Personalized Cochlear Implant Fitting and Music Enjoyment

(Original title: “Can anatomy-based fitting improve musical perception in adult cochlear implant usersBraz J Otorhinolaryngol. 2025, Lassaletta L et al.)

Take-home message

Cochlear implant users with a personalised fitting approach showed advantages in certain aspects of music, particularly in processing multiple sounds simultaneously.

Background
Anatomy-Based Fitting (ABF) is a personalized approach to fitting cochlear implants (CI), adopting the priniciple of cochlear tonotopicity.

This study compared the effectiveness of Anatomy-Based Fitting versus conventional Default Fitting (DF) in music perception and enjoyment among adult cochlear implant (CI) users.

• Method

Participants:
20 adult, postlingually, bilaterally deaf, unilateral CI users, were assessed in two groups:
– 10 users fitted with ABF
– 10 users fitted with DF
– Both groups were similar in gender, age, duration of CI use
> 12 months of CI experience, good speech performance
– No prior music training

• Evaluation

Objective music perception:
25 exercises of Meludia online music training software for CI users assessed tasks on
– Rhythm
– Pitch differentiation
– Harmonies
– Melody
– Number of sounds at a time (density)
– Subjective music enjoyment: Music-Related Quality of Life (MuRQoL) and Munich Music (MUMU) questionnaires.

Results

For the “Density Task” of Meludia, i.e. defining the number of sounds played simultaneously, users with ABF fitting performed significantly better than the DF group.

For the other Meludia tasks, no significant differences were observed between the two groups.

The subjective questionnaires showed similar scores between both groups and no significant change in music listening habits and enjoyment.

Personalized, anatomy-based fitting can enhance certain aspects of music perception in CI users, which may result in an improved music experience.

Full text link: Can anatomy-based fitting improve musical perception in adult cochlear implant users? – ScienceDirect