Music in the ear and in the brain

In my presentation, I will review two strands of research in the domain of music cognition that can provide further insights for the investigation of auditory perception in hearing-impaired listeners. In the first part, I will review music cognition research using an implicit investigation method that provided evidence for sophisticated musical knowledge in (normal-hearing) nonmusician listeners. I will then present our recent study using this investigation method to further analyze music perception capacities in postlingually deafened cochlear implant users. In the second part, I will focus on temporal processing and predictions within a theoretical framework of temporal attention and dynamic attending. We have shown that musical primes with regular rhythmic structures can improve speech processing in sentences presented after the primes. This benefit has been shown in normal-hearing adults and children as well as in listeners with developmental language disorders (i.e., dyslexia, SLI). In one study, we use regular rhythmic primes to boost the efficacy of syntax processing training programs in speech therapy sessions for children with cochlear implants. Together, music cognition research can provide perspectives for testing and training music and speech processing in hearing-impaired listeners via implicit methods and rhythmic stimulation programs.