Effects of pulse rate on threshold and dynamic range in Clarion cochlear-implant users.

The effects of pulse rate on absolute threshold ~THS!, maximum acceptable loudness ~MAL!, and dynamic range ~DR! were evaluated in 15 Clarion cochlear implant users. A wider range of pulse rates was assessed than in previous studies, and subjects with both standard and perimodiolar electrode arrays were tested. THS and MAL decreased with pulse rate, and DR increased with pulse rate, for pulse rates between 200 and 6500 pulses per second ~pps!. However, slopes of THS-vs-pulse rate and MAL-vs-pulse rate functions became shallower above 3250 pps. Subjects with standard electrode arrays had similar THSs as subjects with perimodiolar electrode arrays at all pulse rates. In contrast, subjects with standard arrays had significantly higher MALs and larger DRs than subjects with perimodiolar arrays, and these differences became larger with increasing pulse rate. © 2004 Acoustical Society of America. @DOI: 10.1121/1.1701895#