PP804 - Emotional Responses to Environmental Sounds in Listeners with Cochlear Implants

Abstract:
Spectral degradation of the acoustic signal by a cochlear implant (CI) is known to influence various aspects of auditory perception. This study evaluated emotional responses to sound in adults with CIs and controls with normal hearing (NH). Cochlear implant users reported poorer experiences when listening to signals with vocal emotion relative to their NH counterparts. Despite these self-perceived differences in emotional experiences, no differences in sound-induced valence and arousal perception were noted between groups. Understanding how CIs influence sound-induced emotion is crucial for developing effective rehabilitation strategies to broaden the emotional experiences of CI users.

Summary:
Rationale
The impact of hearing loss extends beyond reduced audibility and can lead to an increase in depressive symptoms (Kramer et al., 2002), social isolation (Dalton et al., 2003), and a poor quality of life (Hawthorne, 2008). Emerging evidence suggests that individuals with hearing loss also experience a reduced range of emotional responses to sound (Picou et al., 2017, 2018; Picou & Buono, 2018), which can further compound these negative psychosocial consequences (Holman et al., 2022). The electric signal provided by a CI is notably coarser than the original acoustic signal, resulting in what is termed "spectral degradation." We recently demonstrated that individuals with normal hearing (NH) perceive spectrally degraded environmental sounds as more negative and less arousing than natural (unprocessed) sounds (Jahn et al., 2024). Thus, individuals using CIs may exhibit a reduced range of emotional responses to sound relative to individuals with acoustic hearing. The primary aim of this study is to characterize emotional reactions to sound in CI users. We hypothesize that CI users will perceive environmental sounds as more negative and less arousing than their NH counterparts. A better understanding of emotional responses in CI users can guide improvements in programming, interventions, and counseling, enhancing emotional experiences and overall quality of life.

Design
Data collection is ongoing. To date, 13 CI users (mean age = 40.08, SD = 16.29) and 3 NH controls (mean age = 22.33, SD = 4.04) have participated. Participants listened to 60 naturally occurring sounds at 65dB SPL from the International Affective Digitized Sounds-2nd Edition (IADS-2) corpus (Bradley & Lang, 2007) and reported their emotional responses to each sound on two dimensions (valence and arousal) using the self-assessment manikin rating scale (Bradley & Lang, 1994). They also completed the Emotional Communication in Hearing Questionnaire (EMO-CHeQ) (Singh et al. 2019) to assess self-perceived experiences when listening to emotional signals.

Results
The mean arousal and valence ratings were 5.59 (SD=0.91) and 4.98 (SD=0.47) for the CI group and 5.73 (SD=0.91) and 4.96 (SD= 0.38) for the NH controls, respectively. The mean EMO-CHeQ scores were 3.59 and 1.94 for CI and NH controls, respectively. A Mann Whitney U test suggested no significant between-group differences in sound-induced arousal or valence (ps>0.05), while the EMO-CHeQ ratings were significantly different between the groups (U= 39, p = 0.01).

Brief Summary of Clinical Takeaways:
Adults CI users report significantly poorer experiences when listening to emotional signals relative to their NH counterparts. Despite these self-perceived deficits in emotional experiences, no differences in sound-induced valence and arousal perception were noted between groups. Understanding how CIs influence sound-induced emotion is crucial for developing effective rehabilitation strategies to broaden the emotional experiences of CI users. Ongoing data collection will allow us to increase the number of participants, balance the sample sizes between groups, and investigate the relationship between physiological and behavioral measures of valence and arousal.