I just tried a new CI rehab app called CSent Noise (Cacatenated Sentences in Noise). I don’t understand what results I should look for - what would an achievable goal for for hearing in noise with my CI? Here is a link to the app. Below are the instructions:
Joan I’ve just finished working with a CI researcher here in Oz. I had to answer a ton of sentences and words with varying levels of white noise, increasing in db. It’s a tough task for all recipients, we all have trouble with background noise.
Remembering I’m 3.9 years since activation, and your only a few months, I got 75% correct from the researchers project.
I had a look at your link, and tried it. If I was you I’d aim for 50% at the moment seeing you have only been activated recently. Then increase your expectations as in % as you go along. Good luck.
Thanks. When I look at my score it says a dB level. I don’t understand what that is. Does that mean dB of background noise? I’ll just keep trying it but more helpful to k ow what the results mean. I don’t have a good grasp of all of the audiology terms.
A normal hearing individual can understand speech in noise with an SNR of about -2 to 0 dB (target speech is a bit softer than background noise, or target speech and background noise are equal). It sounds like the number they are giving to you is the dB that the target speech has to be relative to the background noise (i.e. a score of 20 would mean that the target speech needs to be 20 dB above the background noise for you to understand 50% of the time). You’re looking for a progressive decrease in that number over time.
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Thanks so much Neville. Very helpful. So looks like I want shy db level to be low and the percentage to be 50 or higher. If that is the case, I feel very good about my results!
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Don’t worry about the 50%. If they are defining your threshold as the SNR at which you are correct 50% of the time, it will always be 50%. Just work on getting that threshold SNR number down.
Expect variability and don’t get discouraged if the number is up sometimes. Like weight-loss, you’re looking more for a generally decreasing trend rather than a straight downwards trajectory.
Also, consider music lessons as a supplement of you’ve ever had any interest in learning an instrument.
Neville,
My db range for the first five rounds were .3 to 11 so I think I’m doing pretty well for so early in the game. I took 10 years of piano growing up. My son is an operatic tenor and I try to stream classical music whenever I can at work for practice. I rotate among opera, orchestral, piano, guitar, violin, etc. trying to learn the sounds. My husband has rock on all the time at home. CI alone is somewhat lacking but doesn’t sound bad to me at all. Together with my other ear it all sounds wonderful. Hoping to improve my CI quality in case I have to go bilateral in future. All suggestions welcome! Hmmm, I have always wanted to learn the sax!
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Passive music listening doesn’t seem to have the same effect on increasing auditory skills as actually doing music. There’s something about that feedback loop of listening to sounds, making sounds that match, adjusting errors, learning new things, and multimodal integration with making your fingers/hands/mouth take a specific action to form the sound. So if you’ve ever thought about playing piano again, perhaps now is the time. Though, sounds like your husband might like the sax more. 
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