Background: A cochlear implant (CI) enables postlingually deafened people to understand speech but due to technical restrictions, users face great limitations in noisy conditions. Music training was shown to augment shared auditory and cognitive neural networks for processing speech and music and improves auditory-motor coupling which benefits speech perception in noisy listening conditions. These are promising prerequisites for multi-modal Neurologic Music Training (NMT) on speech-in-noise (SIN) perception in adult CI users. Furthermore, a better understanding of the neurophysiological correlates when performing working memory (WM) and SIN tasks after multi-modal music training with CI carriers may provide clinicians with a better understanding of optimal rehabilitation.

Methods: In the current study, 81 post-lingual deafened adult CI recipients will undergo a 4-week neurologic music therapy multi-modal training for 3 conditions (pitch, rhythm, and timbre). Pre- and Post-tests will analyze behavioral outcomes and apply a novel EEG approach recording alpha oscillation modulations to the sentence-final-word-identification-and-recall test (SWIR-EEG).

Outcome: The first behavioral results of short-term multi-modal music training on the enhancement of WM and SIN performance and their reflection in alpha oscillation modulations in prefrontal areas in post-lingual deafened adult CI recipients will be presented. Prospectly, outcomes could contribute to understanding the relationship between cognitive functioning and SIN besides the technical deficits of the CI. Targeted clinical application of music training for post-lingual deafened adult CI carriers to significantly improve SIN and positively impact the quality of life can be realized.