Auditory Neural Function in Implanted Patients With Usher Syndrome

Usher syndrome (USH) causes extensive degeneration in the cochlear nerve (CN), especially in CN fibers innervating the base of the cochlea. As the first step toward developing evidence-based practice for managing implant patients with USH, this study evaluates local neural health, as well as the neural encoding of temporal and spectral cues at the CN in implanted patients with USH. Aim 1 will determine local CN health in patients with USH by assessing the sensitivity of the electrically evoked compound action potential to changes in interphase gap and pulse polarity. Aim 2 will determine group differences in neural encoding of temporal and spectral cues at the CN between patients with USH and patients with idiopathic hearing loss. Aim 3 will use supervised machine learning techniques to develop an objective tool for assessing the electrode-neuron interface at individual electrode locations.