EXPERIMENT for CI users

Cloggy

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For those who don't know me. I am hearing. My daughter has bilateral CI... (That WAS short... but enough for this thread..)

I was filling a small bottle and listned how the sound of the water entering the bottle increased in pitch / frequency..

I suddenly wondered, with electrodes spaced as they are, (with huge gaps compared to haircells,) how would that sound like.... Would the sound change continously (like for me) or in steps.

My guess is that it changes continously... but perhaps the level will fluctuate..??


So, do the test...
Listen to a waterbottle being filled with water..... and tell me if you heared the sound change continously or in steps and if the leve stays the same
 
Cloggy,

I just tried your experiment and found that the sound changed continuously. The sound started at a low pitch and gradually changed to a higher pitch as more water was added to the bottle. (I used an empty 20 oz. soda bottle)

The intensity of the water being added also makes a difference in sound quality. For example, when lightly running tap water is added to the bottle, it creates a lower pitched sound that alternates with a higher pitched sound. When tap water that is running heavily is added to the bottle, it creates a continuous high pitched sound.

I don't know about other CI users here, but that's the way it sounds to me! :)
 
Thanks for that..

Wonder how others experience it....

Have you yourself done any experimenting?

We did some with Lotte at the breakfast table. She would close her eyes and and I would lightly tap a glass bottle with my ring. And it's amazing how soft the noises needed to be before she couln't hear them..
 
I'm not sure what you mean about sound changing in steps? I just tried your experiment with a plastic drink bottle and noticed that as the bottle filled up to the top the sound of the water pouring in became softer but it seems continuous to me. If I change the amount of water pouring into the bottle it becomes higher in pitch.

When you say change in sound steps do you mean whether we hear a gap between each change in pitch/frequency?

I had a nice CI moment today sort of. Before I had my CI and after I suddenly lost my hearing going to the GP was an ordeal as I couldn't understand him. I've just been to the GP for the first time since activation 6 months ago to get my daughter's immunisations and our conversation was smooth and easy. What a stark difference :) Not only that but I telephoned the doctor's reception a week ago to arrange the appointment and we discussed possible times that would suit me. That would just never have happened before!
 
.........
When you say change in sound steps do you mean whether we hear a gap between each change in pitch/frequency?
........
QUOTE]Well, I didn't expect it, (brain seems to be too smart for that) but wondered if hearing a sound that continously changes over it's frequency might sound irregular.

BTW, great experiences.... !!
 
cloggy

try few glasses but different amount of water then dip your finger (index) into water and slide your finger around the rim of glasses.. each glasses will sound different.. :)

Wine glasses or any glasses with stem.
Howstuffworks "How can you make a wine glass sing?"
I know. I recall a guy - street performer - who had 10-20 glasses in fornt of him and played with not just 1 finger, but multiple. Was beautifull.

Same stuff, different tune.. just blow on the top of the a flask and just put more / less water in.

But the thing with filling the bottle was that it was a continous change of frequency. You could do it with a glass when someone else poors fluid into it..
 
Consider this: each of these letters looks like it's made of a single line. Or you could follow a longer line on your screen, and it looks continuous. But you know that the screen is made up of lots of little dots called pixels; they're just small enough that the brain treats them as one continuous object, because it is set up to recognize patterns like that.

Similarly, the nerves in a (normal, hearing) cochlea are getting this change in pitch in steps - after all, you do have a finite, if very large, number of hairs in your cochlea - but the brain is interpreting it as one continuous change, because it's built to recognize patterns. A person with a cochlear implant may have fewer steps, but their brain has been trained to recognize patterns resulting from those steps - so they may also interpret the sound as a continuously changing pitch.

Does that make sense?
 
Consider this: each of these letters looks like it's made of a single line. Or you could follow a longer line on your screen, and it looks continuous. But you know that the screen is made up of lots of little dots called pixels; they're just small enough that the brain treats them as one continuous object, because it is set up to recognize patterns like that.

Similarly, the nerves in a (normal, hearing) cochlea are getting this change in pitch in steps - after all, you do have a finite, if very large, number of hairs in your cochlea - but the brain is interpreting it as one continuous change, because it's built to recognize patterns. A person with a cochlear implant may have fewer steps, but their brain has been trained to recognize patterns resulting from those steps - so they may also interpret the sound as a continuously changing pitch.

Does that make sense?
Sure, In line with my thinking..

But, 22.000 haircells, 1200 pixels or 22 electtrodes.... quite a difference.
 
Yea, that may be but it is still a pattern and the brain fills in the gaps. It is doing Fourier analysis all the way. No machine yet compares to it...
 
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