Understanding Music Heard Through Cochlear Implants

Music sounds very different to cochlear implant users. Researchers are trying to improve the experience.

Written byJef Akst

| 5 min read

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IMPLANTING TUNES: Ray Goldsworthy helps patients with cochlear implants regain their ability to enjoy music.

Ray Goldsworthy lost his hearing when he was 12 years old. A case of spinal meningitis caused swelling in his central nervous system that resulted in irreparable damage to the neurons of the cochlea, the inner-ear structure that converts incoming sound waves into neural signals sent to the brain. A year later, Goldsworthy became one of the first children to receive a cochlear implant as part of a 1987 pediatric trial. He could hear again, but his auditory sense wasn’t the same.

A lot of things about using a cochlear implant (CI) take getting used to. The devices comprise an external microphone, a sound processor, and an electrode array that stimulates the cochlear nerve according to the output of an algorithm programmed into the processor. ...

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Meet the Author

Jef Akst
Jef (an unusual nickname for Jennifer) got her master’s degree from Indiana University in April 2009 studying the mating behavior of seahorses. After four years of diving off the Gulf Coast of Tampa and performing behavioral experiments at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, she left research to pursue a career in science writing. As The Scientist's managing editor, Jef edited features and oversaw the production of the TS Digest and quarterly print magazine. In 2022, her feature on uterus transplantation earned first place in the trade category of the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers.
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