New PhD project titled "Feeling the beat with electric hearing: Neurophysiological and psychophysical investigations of the experience of music and groove in cochlear implant users" from Center for Music in the Brain at Aarhus University investigates the experience of music and the pleasurable urge to move to music in cochlear implant users. 

Cochlear implants (CIs) enable recipients to regain speech perception, but many users find music less satisfying due to some of the technical limitations of the implant. This project explores how CI users experience rhythm and its connection to the pleasurable urge to move to music (often referred to as groove), comparing them with listeners with normal hearing (NH). Using a combination of behavioral and neurophysiological (EEG) studies, findings show that neural adaptations occur in CI users within months of implantation and that they perceive rhythmic complexity—including syncopation and polyphony—similarly to NH listeners. Surprisingly, their groove experiences mirror those of NH listeners, and adding tactile stimulation further enhances rhythm perception for both groups. This PhD project offers novel insights into rhythmic processing in CI users, providing evidence that rhythm is effectively transmitted through CIs. Based on these findings, the challenges leading to diminished music enjoyment in CI users are not rooted in their rhythmic processing or perception.

The defence is public and takes place on 12/12/2024 at 14:00 in Samfundsmedicinsk Auditorium (building 1262 - 101), Aarhus University, Bartholins Allé 2, 8000 Aarhus C, and online via Zoom (please contact Hella Kastbjerg at hella.kastbjerg@clin.au.dk to obtain the Zoom link)

After the defense, Center for Music in the Brain will host a small reception in the Pavilion in Building 1710.

Assessment committee:

Professor Sarang Dalal (chair of the committee and moderator of the defence), Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Denmark.

Professor Emeritus Eckart Altenmüller, Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien, Hannover, Germany.

Docent and University Lecturer Ritva Torppa, Faculty of Medicine, Dept. of Speech-Language Pathology, Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Center of Excellence in Music, Mind, Body and Brain (MMBB), University of Helsinki, Finland.