Matthies M L, Svirsky M A, Lane H L, Perkell J S
Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge 02139.
J Acoust Soc Am. 1994 Sep;96(3):1367-73. doi: 10.1121/1.410281.
The potential influence of auditory information in the production of /s/ and /integral of/ was explored for postlingually deafened adults with four-channel Ineraid cochlear implants. Analyses of the spectra of the sibilant sounds were compared for speech obtained prior to implant activation, after early implant use and after 6 months of use. In addition, the output of the Ineraid device (measured at each of the four electrodes) was analyzed with pre- and postactivation speech samples to explore whether the speech production changes were potentially audible to the cochlear-implant user. Results indicated that subjects who showed abnormally low or incorrect contrast between /s/ and /integral of/ preactivation, and who received significant auditory benefit from their implants were able to increase the distinctiveness of their productions of the two speech sounds.
