Subject: Re: Do deaf humans (CI users) like music? From: Leon van Noorden <leonvannoorden(at)CHELLO.BE> Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2005 20:54:21 +0100Dear list, Living together with a congenitally profoundly deaf person has made me aware, how much we, as well hearing people, think that music comes only through the ears. My wife has had the advantage to be born in a hearing family and she did therefore everything that was normal in that family, like following piano lessons for many years. Rhythmic aspects of music come through to her via all kinds of vibrating contact media such as the floor and a hand bag. Of course she can enjoy the words of a song by reading or lipreading. On top of that she has a keen feeling for how people react to music and she appreciates very much to dance (with a preference for a wooden floor). So I can state from close observation that a congenitally deaf person can certainly enjoy music, even if she is not able to hear certain essential elements such as pitch. On the other hand I can imagine that if she would get an implant at her age the unidentifiable noises coming from such an implant would interfere with her way of appreciating music. This is certainly the experience of one of her sisters. I have some hesitation to believe that following some deaf people who get an CI on early age can shed much light on the development of music perception as we also know many people who, while having good hearing do not have interest in and appreciation of music. Leon van Noorden, Brussels, Belgium -----Message d'origine----- De : AUDITORY Research in Auditory Perception [mailto:AUDITORY(at)LISTS.MCGILL.CA] De la part de Robbin Wood Envoyé : woensdag 2 maart 2005 18:26 À : AUDITORY(at)LISTS.MCGILL.CA Objet : Re: Do deaf humans (CI users) like music? I find the study of music (and speech) perception in congenitally deaf CI users quite fascinating. Studying these patients could provide a unique perspective on the development of music and language perception. While the Nakata et al. (2005) study examines children ages 4-9, I am very curious about differences in music and speech perception in congenitally deaf patients who acquired their cochlear implants at different stages in life. For instance, if a CI were implanted in a congenitally deaf 30-year-old, would this patient be able to perceive, enjoy, etc. music and speech, or would this be so far past the "critical period" that the brain's plasticity would not be great enough to accommodate these new perceptual experiences? ~Robbin Robbin A. Wood Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience Georgetown University 3900 Reservoir Rd., NW Washington DC 20007 (202) 687-8449 -----Original Message----- From: AUDITORY Research in Auditory Perception [mailto:AUDITORY(at)LISTS.MCGILL.CA] On Behalf Of William Cooper Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2005 11:28 AM To: AUDITORY(at)LISTS.MCGILL.CA Subject: Do deaf humans (CI users) like music? Dear List, The topics of the recent threads have circled around the theme of primitive innate ability for music and its appreciation. We have discussed whether music may or may not be preserved under different kinds of brain insults and we have discussed whether animals are capable of hearing and appreciating music. I wish to broaden this topic of discussion to a special population of humans, deaf individuals who have been implanted with a cochlear implant (CI) device. I think including a discussion of how this population perceives and appreciates music would be interesting under a topic of innate musical appreciation. Briefly, a cochlear implant is an electronic device that is implanted directly into the cochlea. It electrically stimulates the auditory nerve giving rise the perception of sound in deaf individuals. CIs are effective in assisting deaf individuals to hear again or in many cases for the first time. CI users are either congenitally deaf or acquired deafness later in life. The latter group acquired deafness either before learning to speak (prelingually deaf) or after learning to speak (postlingually deaf). I want to share some reported findings and some personal observations regarding how these individuals perceive music. CI users who acquired deafness postlingually tend to appreciate music less postimplantation than before losing their hearing (Gfeller et al., 2000). http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Ab stract&list_uids=10976500 I find this to be generally true, though I have witnessed postlingually deaf CI users who still appreciate music. An apparent commonality among these individuals is that their level of appreciation seems to correspond with their listening habits and success with their device. I have also observed that CI users with congenital deafness tend to appreciate music more than CI users who possessed hearing preimplantation (such a comparison is yet to be substantiated). The congenitally deaf CI users tend to be less frustrated with how the CI portrays music to them. This, it would seem, is very likely due to the fact that, prior to implantation, they had not heard music and therefore posses no means of comparison. My observations seem to be consistent with findings from a recent study investigating music perception in congenitally deaf children with CIs (Nakata et al, 2005). http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Ab stract&list_uids=15684539 I'm wondering if subscribers to this list might comment on: a) CI users' perception of music b) the ability (of humans) to appreciate music having not had previous exposure to it (truly, primitive innate ability for music and its appreciation) c) functions of brain plasticity that would enable postlingually deaf CI users to appreciate music again, or congenitally deaf CI users to appreciate music for the first time. William Cooper ---------------------------------------------------------------- William B. Cooper, M.Sc., M.S. School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences The University of Texas at Dallas wcooper(at)utdallas.edu http://www.utdallas.edu/~wcooper ---------------------------------------------------------------- -- Internal Virus Database is out-of-date. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.300 / Virus Database: 266.4.0 - Release Date: 2/22/2005 -- Internal Virus Database is out-of-date. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.300 / Virus Database: 266.4.0 - Release Date: 2/22/2005