Influence of Anatomy-Based Fitting in Cochlear Implant Users on Music Perception Using the Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia.

Objectives: The aim is to investigate the influence of the anatomy-based fitting (ABF) in cochlear implants (CI) on the perception of specific musical features.

Design: The Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia (MBEA) test battery was performed with a collective of 16 CI users with and without an anatomy-based fitting and 9 normal hearing subjects. The insertion angles of the intracochlear electrode arrays were calculated using Otoplan® (MED-EL, Innsbruck, Austria) software.

Results: CI users with an anatomy-based fitting achieve better results in the MBEA in all categories, especially in rhythm, meter, and memory. There is no effect of insertion depth alone on the ability to perceive musical features, even after anatomy-based fitting.

Conclusions: The results of the CI users in comparison to normal hearing people confirm previous studies. Apart from better speech understanding in CI users, which has been demonstrated in other studies, the anatomy-based fitting also contributes to a better perception of musical features. Currently, there are no comparable studies on this relationship. Investigations with further parameters with the help of the MBEA are pending.

Significance: Our results show that anatomy-based fitting of cochlear implants significantly improves the perception of specific musical attributes and thus leads to an increased enjoyment of music.