Functional spatial hearing in pediatric cochlear implant users
Official title: FUNCTIONAL SPATIAL HEARING IN REVERBERATION BY PEDIATRICALLY IMPLANTED CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS
Funded at Father Flanagan's Boys' Home · NIH-11449136 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A study to understand how real-world reverberation affects the ability of kids and young adults with cochlear implants to hear where sounds are coming from.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Father Flanagan's Boys' Home NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boys Town, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2026 |
| Project end | June 30, 2031 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $681,606 |
| NIH project number | 1R01DC023375-01A1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11449136 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Children and young adults with bilateral cochlear implants, aged 8-30 years, and normal-hearing peers for comparison.
✕Less likely to help
Individuals without cochlear implants or outside the specified age range are unlikely to benefit.
What this research studies
This project looks at how echo-y environments, like classrooms, change how well children and young adults with bilateral cochlear implants can localize sounds. It compares two groups: 8-20 year olds with short inter-implant time and 20-30 year olds with longer inter-implant time, plus normal-hearing children and adults for reference. Researchers will test auditory image perception, spatial acuity, and how sound is separated in noisy, reverberant settings, using psychophysical tasks. The goal is to reveal developmental trends and potential risks to spatial hearing as implants mature.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, findings could guide better CI processing or training to improve real-world listening for kids with implants.
How similar studies have gone: Prior studies show some improvement in spatial hearing with CIs in quiet, but real-world reverberation remains challenging; this study extends that work to developmental trajectories.
Where this research is happening
-
Father Flanagan's Boys' Home
Boys Town, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Peng, Zhao Ellen — Father Flanagan's Boys' Home
- Study coordinator: Peng, Zhao Ellen
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.