CI soon...CI friendly only please

The way my audie explained it - regardless what the refresh rate is, when the auditory nerves are stimulated to 'fire', they need a few microseconds in order to return to a state of relaxation so they can fire again. When you reach a level of stimulation too high, there is no 'downtime' available for the nerves to go back to the "pre-fire" state, so they are simply unable to fire again and stop transmitting until the refresh rate goes down, so the quality of sound decreases dramatically.

This was one of the main things the Freedom trials were trying to discover, because "refresh rates" were becoming a big selling point for the CI industry, but if one company advertised a refresh rate of "10,000 pulses per second!!!!" would that really mean BETTER sound? Was there a threshold where the nerve simply said "Nope - game over - you aren't giving me any time to return to a resting state so I can fire again so I'm not going to do anything!" And they did discover that there definitely appears to be a critical level when the number of pulses makes no measurable improvement on the ability to hear.


sr171soars said:
Yes, the number of pulses per second. Your cochlear nerve has to send the signals to the brain but while it is like an "electrical wire" there are limits to how many it can transmit which is dictated by biology (I'm no scientist but I do know that fact). I know it can handle a higher rate than 2400 but the real problem is how well your brain can process them which is the more important aspect. So, a refresh rate is (if you will) a batching of a signal in cycles per seconds. It simply means that in each cycle there is a complicate signal being sent to the brain. The brain by receiving these signals "transforms" them into what you call hearing (the brain is one remarkable signal processor - mathematically known as fourier transformation) on a real time basis. If it gets too many signals, the quality of "output" (aka hearing) degrades.
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neecy said:
In the study we were "blind" to what refresh rate we were using (so to get unbiased results) when I was switched from 1800 to 2400 I HATED it!!!! Everything went from crisp and clear to muddy and muddled and just plain *awful*. They actually had a few people drop out of the study (I was offered the option to go back to the one I wantd, but then I'd have to leave the study itself) in order to go back to the level they preferred rather than endure 3-4 weeks of the horrid 2400. I stayed with it, and tried to tweak mine the best they could within the study protocols, but I had to bear it out for another 3 weeks. It was the WORST 3 weeks of the study for me, and a godsend to go back to 1800 (which I didnt' know was 1800 at the time, just that it was my favorite.) At the end, it was interesting to find out that the one I had hated was the 2400 and out of our study group only one person had opted for that setting.
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Sorry, you had to endure that for three weeks. I wasn't so much I hated it, it was more that it wasn't just right but I could function with it. They kept track of what you liked and disliked and like you...I remembered the good ones... :D I believe just one person liked (2400) it in our study. Even if I liked 2400, I would probably stayed with 1800 just for the battery life. 1 1/2 days just wouldn't do it for me... Too many trade offs in life...
 
neecy said:
The way my audie explained it - regardless what the refresh rate is, when the auditory nerves are stimulated to 'fire', they need a few microseconds in order to return to a state of relaxation so they can fire again. When you reach a level of stimulation too high, there is no 'downtime' available for the nerves to go back to the "pre-fire" state, so they are simply unable to fire again and stop transmitting until the refresh rate goes down, so the quality of sound decreases dramatically.

This was one of the main things the Freedom trials were trying to discover, because "refresh rates" were becoming a big selling point for the CI industry, but if one company advertised a refresh rate of "10,000 pulses per second!!!!" would that really mean BETTER sound? Was there a threshold where the nerve simply said "Nope - game over - you aren't giving me any time to return to a resting state so I can fire again so I'm not going to do anything!" And they did discover that there definitely appears to be a critical level when the number of pulses makes no measurable improvement on the ability to hear.
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Yep! Glad you brought that up. I forgot about that... In this case, you can only do as well as you were set up with from birth.
 
Yup, I've been thru N.C numerous times, have tons of family there. The autosensitivity, I don't know...how can I tell? lol My audi didn't mention it to me yet
I love the dry and store, I put my HA in it too. I have my CI in there now, was humid and raining today. UUggh, rainy weather is nice, but not everyday!
Thanks again!

sr171soars said:
Ah, coming through my state...eh? Enjoy the beach. I haven't been to Nags Head. I been to Atlantic Beach, the beaches in the Wilmington NC area and my favorite is Myrtle Beach SC!!!

Anyway, as for the car trip... Do you have autosensitivity? If you do, use that as it helps with the road noise. Also, take your dry & store with you and put it in every night! There is lots of humidity at the beaches. ;)
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I went thru NC several times. Yeah been to Nags Head :) and those beaches back in 80's while going to NY for NTID.
 
StacieLeigh said:
Yup, I've been thru N.C numerous times, have tons of family there. The autosensitivity, I don't know...how can I tell? lol My audi didn't mention it to me yet
I love the dry and store, I put my HA in it too. I have my CI in there now, was humid and raining today. UUggh, rainy weather is nice, but not everyday!
Thanks again!
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Its easy to tell if you have autosensitivity. Plug in the vaccuum or any other loud machine with a *continuous* sound, then switch through your programs and wait a minute on each- if after about 30 seconds you find that the "noise" is disappearing - that's the autosensitivity program detecting a continuous background noise and eliminating it. Since direct voices are not continuous, it can cut out "background" chatter but allow you to hear somebody speaking directly in front of you clearly. Its pretty awesome I love it when I'm vaccuming and mowing the lawn, or in a large crowd of noisy people!
 
Thanks! I'll give that a try tomorrow! I think I'll love that program!


neecy said:
Its easy to tell if you have autosensitivity. Plug in the vaccuum or any other loud machine with a *continuous* sound, then switch through your programs and wait a minute on each- if after about 30 seconds you find that the "noise" is disappearing - that's the autosensitivity program detecting a continuous background noise and eliminating it. Since direct voices are not continuous, it can cut out "background" chatter but allow you to hear somebody speaking directly in front of you clearly. Its pretty awesome I love it when I'm vaccuming and mowing the lawn, or in a large crowd of noisy people!
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R2D2 said:
You explained that very well. I just think of those old silent movies they made in the 1920s where everything flickered and every action was jerky.
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Thanks for all the explanations. And cool example. I wouldn't have put those movies together with that same concept, but it makes a LOT of sense now that someone actually says it. ;)
 
hi there

i recently got ci 1 week ago it was intersting but one sad thing i cant hear music yet it white noise to me but beinning to understand words like my name family and my francee's name i hope i can hear music soon because i really want to hear it thanks
 
trekman21 said:
i recently got ci 1 week ago it was intersting but one sad thing i cant hear music yet it white noise to me but beinning to understand words like my name family and my francee's name i hope i can hear music soon because i really want to hear it thanks
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Cool, it takes a while... and will get better each time after each mappings.
 
trekman21 said:
i recently got ci 1 week ago it was intersting but one sad thing i cant hear music yet it white noise to me but beinning to understand words like my name family and my francee's name i hope i can hear music soon because i really want to hear it thanks
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As Boult stated, it takes time. Patience...

Were you able to hear it before?
 
Wow, very informative! Thank you all for sharing your experiences! Only 23 more days to go for my grandson and 20 for my son! (CI surgery and evaluation for CI candidacy respectively)
 
yep i can hear it before and still do just w HA but not full range of music just low notes but i recently stopped using HA to learn sound with CI because aduie said so
 
trekman21 said:
yep i can hear it before and still do just w HA but not full range of music just low notes but i recently stopped using HA to learn sound with CI because aduie said so
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It will probably take some time. You only had one week and everybody is different in how they do from the start. Just perservere and it will come!
 
trekman21 said:
i recently got ci 1 week ago it was intersting but one sad thing i cant hear music yet it white noise to me but beinning to understand words like my name family and my francee's name i hope i can hear music soon because i really want to hear it thanks
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Welcome Trekman - I've had my CI activated for one week also! And like you music is just off the radar for me. I was talking to a CI friend of mine who has had hers for nearly a year and she said that it took 6 months for her, but she really loves listening to it now.

It does take time and I do relate to your feelings of impatience and frustration! Hope you still stick more with us.
 
trekman21 said:
yep i can hear it before and still do just w HA but not full range of music just low notes but i recently stopped using HA to learn sound with CI because aduie said so
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I plan on having an iPod so I can hear and watch podcasts, music videos and movies. Maybe you can get an iPod to help you with your music listening? ;)
 
Just a quick question to the old timers - do you use a TV/Hi-Fi adaptor cable with your CI at all? I am just wondering whether it's worth getting one as I don't get it as standard in my package. Is it useful for auditory therapy?
 
R2D2 said:
Just a quick question to the old timers - do you use a TV/Hi-Fi adaptor cable with your CI at all? I am just wondering whether it's worth getting one as I don't get it as standard in my package. Is it useful for auditory therapy?
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I havn't figured out how to plug it into my tv so havn't used it. Since I don't want to trail a wire around in the kitchen where my stero is located I havn't tried it on that. Try the personal cable for listening to things like cds, ipod etc. It is probably the better choice to start with since it's portable.
 
R2D2 said:
Just a quick question to the old timers - do you use a TV/Hi-Fi adaptor cable with your CI at all? I am just wondering whether it's worth getting one as I don't get it as standard in my package. Is it useful for auditory therapy?
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Good question!

It really depends on the person. You just have to decide if you watch enough TV or listen to radio alot.

For auditory therapy, I really keep hearing that auditory books are the way to go. Get a story you like and listen to it. Can't get better than that as it is great practice. You get an excellent speaker while you are getting the hang of it.
 
Yeah Audiobooks on iPod or book on tape/cd if don't have iPod eh..
 
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