Presenters: A/Prof Alexandre Lehmann, Chi Yhun Lo, Remi Marchand, Nille Elise Kepp
Date: Thursday 28 February 2019
Time: 2.00pm – 4.30pm
Location: Level 1, Lecture Theatre 1.200, Australian Hearing Hub
Agenda:
2.00pm – 2.30pm: A novel virtual reality test to explore spatial localization abilities, musical pitch ranking abilities, and low frequency residual hearing in 7 – 12-year old Danish children with hearing loss.
Nille Elise Kepp (University of Copenhagen, Decibel)
This presentation will consist of preliminary results and clinical experiences; and future directions exploring the potential associations between performance in musical timbre perception and spatial localisation abilities, musical pitch ranking abilities, and low frequency residual hearing.
2.30pm – 3.00pm: Factors influencing enjoyment of music with hearing aids.
Remi Marchand (The HEARing CRC, Macquarie University)
Currently, hearing aids (HAs) are adjusted to compensate for individual hearing loss primarily to maximise the clarity and comfort of speech. Electroacoustic characteristics and settings of HAs may be ideal for speech recognition, but not for music enjoyment. Some aspects of the signal processing involved in HA design may interfere with the enjoyment of music. As an alternative to the standard fitting methods, most of the manufacturers offer different processing programs for customers in need of a specific amplification for music. However, recent studies suggested that these music programs may not improve significantly the experience of music listening and can still be optimized.
3.00pm – 3.30pm: Beyond audition: the benefits of music for children with hearing loss.
Chi Yhun Lo (Macquarie University, The HEARing CRC, The ARC Centre for Cognition and its Disorders)
The benefits of music training are only beginning to be explored for children with hearing loss. While the focus has been primarily on auditory benefits, music is well-noted for being a multisensory experience that places unique demands on motor skills, cognition, vision, and audition. After 12-weeks of music training that consisted of face-to-face group based sessions supplemented by music apps; children with hearing loss improved in communication skills that extend beyond speech perception—highlighting the broader benefits of music participation.
3.30pm – 4.00pm: Musical emotions in cochlear implant users.
Alexandre Lehmann (McGill University, International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research, and Centre for Research on Brain, Language and Music)
The most common reason for listening to music is its rich emotional content. With a cochlear implant (CI), a deaf person can hear again and learn to understand speech. But their ability to enjoy music or perceive emotions is dramatically altered, partly because the sound signal is degraded, and very different from acoustic hearing. This has far-reaching negative consequences, because accurately perceiving emotions in language and music plays a crucial role for social development and integration, communication, employment prospects and overall quality of life.
In this talk, I will address the following questions:
- How accurate are implant users at perceiving auditory emotions?
- Which auditory features best convey emotions through cochlear implants?
- How do emotion-evoked brain responses differ between implant users and normal hearing controls?
4.00pm – 4.30pm: Networking and Refreshments
Registration: Entry is free and open to the public.
Please register by Tuesday 26 February 2019 to Chi Lo chi.lo@mq.edu.au