Rhythm processing in cochlear implant-mediated music perception.

Cochlear implants (CIs) are biomedical devices that provide sound to people with severe-to-profound hearing loss by direct electrical stimulation of auditory neurons in the cochlea. Despite the remarkable achievements with respect to speech perception in quiet environments, music perception with CIs remains generally poor due to the degradation of auditory input. Prior studies have shown that both pitch perception and timbre discrimination are poor in CI users, whereas the performance on rhythmic tasks is nearly equivalent to normal hearing participants. There are several caveats, however, to this generalization regarding rhythm processing for CI users. The purpose of this article is to summarize the literature on rhythmic perception for CI users while highlighting important limitations within these studies. We will also identify areas for future research and development of CI-mediated music processing. It is likely that rhythm processing will continue to advance as our understanding of electrical current delivery to the auditory nerve improves.