Emotional Responses to Music Are Diminished in Bilateral Cochlear Implant Users.

Abstract

Introduction: Emotional response to music, though a central facet of music listening, remains poorly understood. In this study, we investigate the emotional responses to music among bilateral cochlear implantees.

Methods: Bilateral CI users and normal-hearing (NH) controls were recruited from a tertiary academic center and community hearing loss groups. Participants listened (via an online survey) to ten previously validated 15-second musical clips representing multiple genres and wide range of valence (happiness vs. sadness) and arousal (excitement vs. calm), and rated the musical clips on validated nine-point visual analog scales of valence and arousal.

Results: In total, 25 bilateral CI users and 18 NH controls completed the study. Compared to NH controls, CI users demonstrated significantly increased error in valence identification (mean (SD) 1.75 (0.61) vs. 1.16 (0.29), p<0.001), but equivalent arousal error. There were significant differences for eight of 20 total ratings between NH and CI groups. Additionally, CI users demonstrated a significantly constricted range of arousal (4.69 (1.39) vs. 6.04 (1.33), p=0.0025), but a preserved range of valence (4.99 (1.57) vs. 5.62 (1.13), p=0.13). Implantees reported significantly lower music enjoyment (5.78 (3.57) vs. 8.57 (1.17), p=0.0016) than NH controls, and enjoyment was significantly associated with both valence and arousal range.

Conclusions: Bilateral CI users' emotional response to music is significantly constricted compared to NH controls. Blunted appreciation of emotional content likely contributes to reduced music enjoyment among cochlear implantees and is a critical target for improvement.