The following is a summary of “Improving emotion perception in cochlear implant users: insights from machine learning analysis of EEG signals,” published in the April 2024 issue of Neurology by Paquette al.
Cochlear implants provide some hearing restoration, but limited emotional perception in sound hinders social interaction, making it essential to study remaining emotion perception abilities for future rehabilitation programs.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to investigate the remaining emotion perception abilities in cochlear implant users, aiming to improve rehabilitation programs by understanding how well they can still perceive emotions in sound.
They explored the neural basis of these remaining abilities by examining if machine learning methods could detect emotion-related brain patterns in 22 cochlear implant users. Employing a random forest classifier on available EEG data, they aimed to predict auditory emotions (vocal and musical) from participants’ brain responses.
The results showed consistent emotion-specific biomarkers in cochlear implant users, which could potentially be utilized in developing effective rehabilitation programs integrating emotion perception training.
Investigators concluded that the study demonstrated the promise of machine learning for enhancing cochlear implant user outcomes, especially regarding emotion perception.
Source: bmcneurol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12883-024-03616-0
